


Heavenly

by centreoftheselights



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shop, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkwardness, Baking, Coming Out, Cunnilingus, Dissatisfaction, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Drama, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Frottage, Happy Ending, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Underage Relationship(s), Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Multi, Mutual Pining, Mysterious Past, Past Relationship(s), Protectiveness, Sexual Tension, Slight Internalized Homophobia, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Wordcount: Over 50.000, artist, mild violence, sibling relationships, student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2013-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-23 04:04:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 60,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/617889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/centreoftheselights/pseuds/centreoftheselights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo Harvelle picks up shifts at the Roadhouse after her community college classes. Anna Milton is a barista who spends her spare time buried in a sketchbook. They're both looking for something, and on the way they find each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The following warnings apply (hover for more potentially-spoilery details): intermittent bad language, food and drink, alcohol, mild violence, slight internalised homo-/bi-phobia, mentions of character death, being outed as non-heterosexual, criminal activity, underage relationships, age gap relationships, verbal/emotional abuse.
> 
> This fic includes some explicit sexual content. Instructions for skipping these sections are given in the chapter notes for the relevant chapter. If you follow these instructions, this fic is rated Teen.
> 
> If you would like more information about any of these or feel the warnings need to be added to, please leave a comment below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Jo/Anna coffeeshop AU longfic.
> 
> This fic will update weekly on a Wednesday - the first chapter is a day early for a Happy New Year's! If I can't make an update, I'll post a note, so if there's an unexpected absence, feel free to drop me a reminder.
> 
> Tag lists will be expanded as we go.

The first time Jo visits the Heavenly café, it’s brutally early on a Monday after a long, loud shift and she has a nine am class to get to at the community college. She ducks in opposite the bus stop and orders a double espresso to go. She tries to smile at the barista. Jo knows what it’s like to be stuck behind a counter serving drinks.

There’s a galaxy painted on every wall, and above the door are the words “Wish upon a star!” but all Jo can think of is to hope that, for once, the bus will come on time.

She makes it to class with two minutes to spare.

 

Two weeks later, Jo takes her latte to stay. She’s killing time in that empty space between the sticky heat of afternoon classes and the evening shift she promised Ash she’d cover, early lecture be damned (and if her mother says different, damn that too).

It’s a stranger who hands her the coffee – a blonde man with an easy smile – and Jo wonders briefly what happened to the red haired woman with the wide hazel eyes.

Then she finds a table alone by the window, and, in the shadow of an acrylic nebula, hopes for rain.

 

The next day, Jo oversleeps, misses her History of Art lecture and instead gets a full half hour of Ellen Harvelle, world expert in the field of Education Is Important, You’re A Smart Girl And You Should Be Making Something Of Your Life.

She slams the door behind her and walks without caring where she’s going, just needing to feel the earth moving under her feet.

What’s the point? she wonders. It’s not like she’s ever going to need to know this stuff. Why spend her days sweltering in the classroom over something she doesn’t care about? She could just stay at the Roadhouse, where at least she knows when to smile and when to flirt and when to shut up and pass the whiskey.

But that’s a whole different argument, and not one she wants to have again.

Her fuming is interrupted by a louder grumble from above, which is all the warning she gets for the heavens opening up to release a torrential downpour.

Jo curses and runs for the nearest shelter, and it’s only when she ducks under the awning, cool water dripping through her hair and trickling down her neck, that she realises she’s outside Heavenly.

She can’t walk home in this weather.

She’s still muttering blasphemies when she walks in the door, and the barista glances up and asks: “Not a fan of rain?”

The question startles her, but after a moment, Jo shrugs. “Beats the heat lately. I just prefer it with a roof in the way.”

“Sounds fair.” The woman smiles. “So, is today an espresso or a latte?”

Jo blinks again, but now that the morning rush is gone, the cafe is all but empty, and she does come in every day. It’s not like she hasn’t learned drinks orders that fast before.

“Latte,” she answers. “But I think I’ll stay inside.”

“Not got somewhere to be today?”

If she hurried, Jo could still make it to more than half her classes. But she remembers her fight with her mom, and shakes her head.

“I’m going nowhere fast.”

“Oh!” The eyes grow wide, and the smile leaps from ‘friendly’ to ‘dazzling.’ “You should try the chocolate cake.”

“Is it good?”

The barista’s expression is familiar – it’s how Dean looks when he’s working on an engine, or Sam when he gets a chance to talk someone’s ear off about a legal technicality. Jo thinks it means ‘God may come and go, but at least there will always be chocolate cake.’

“It’s homemade,” the woman says hopefully.

“Sure,” Jo says. “I’ll take it.”

She’s handed a slice with her latte and carries them both over to the table by the window. For several long minutes, she sips her coffee and watches the rippling puddles stretch out across the sidewalk, splashing against the ankles of the fellow customer who steps out under an umbrella. But when the barista abandons the empty counter in favour of wiping down a conspicuously clean table nearby, Jo snaps back to reality.

She tries the cake.

It’s... well. Astounding.

Jo never knew that a mouthful of cake could turn into a portal to the Sahara.

She chokes on the dryness, and tries to keep the spluttering to a minimum while also ingesting as much of the still-hot coffee as she can bear. She chews slowly on what tastes remarkably like a half-sodden ball of charcoal.

The woman is looking expectantly in her direction, and Jo forces a smile before taking another forkful. This time, she aims for the icing. It’s a change, in that it doesn’t try to desiccate her tongue. Instead, it attempts to wrestle it. It’s like swallowing an angry slug, if slugs tasted faintly of soap.

“What do you think?”

She looks hopeful, but Jo isn’t going to lie to her.

“I’ve tasted worse” is the best compliment she can manage.

The woman’s face turns grim, and she walks to the counter and cuts herself a slice. She chews a mouthful and swallows determinedly. Then she picks up the whole cake, drops it into the trash, and goes back to wiping tables.

“I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “We can’t seem to get the hang of that recipe.”

Jo chuckles. “It’s still chocolate cake.”

“It is.” The woman’s expression softens slightly. “I’m Anna, by the way. So you don’t think of me as the barista who tried to poison you.”

“Jo,” she introduces herself. “Here, let me get that for you.”

She jumps up and grabs the tray of the last customer to leave – who left them alone here, she now notices. Anna smiles briefly as she moves to wipe the crumbs.

“You’ve done that before.” She gestures to the tray as Jo slides it onto the counter one-handed before returning to her seat.

“I’ve picked up a few shifts at the Roadhouse.”

_Three so far this week, Joanna Beth, and it shouldn’t be any, Ash doesn’t need you covering for him on a school night –_

“That bar over on third?”

Jo leans against the table and takes a deep sip of coffee. “That’s the one.”

The door opens, and a couple of surprisingly unbedraggled women approach the counter. Jo glances back out of the window, and realises the rain has stopped.

Jo waits for the ladies to sit down before taking her empty mug up to the counter.

“I should get going.”

“Don’t forget your wish.” Anna smirks. “There’s one free with every visit – if you wish upon the right star.”

Jo smiles at the obvious joke, but decides to play along. Glancing at the wall in front of her, her eyes land on a star – painted not as a pentagram, but as a real ball of light, reddish-orange against the navy background. She shuts her eyes, and tries not to think about the tangle of anger and regret which brought her here – but her mind runs back to it anyway, and she thinks to herself _I wish things would change_.

She opens her eyes to Anna’s smile.

“You’ll have to come back and tell me when it comes true,” Anna says, and then turns to face yet another customer.

 

“Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Dean’s concern would sound more convincing if he accompanied it with more than a glance in Jo’s direction, but he barely looks up from the car he’s working on.

“Personal day.” Jo sits herself on the edge of the desk. “You going to tell on me?”

“I should,” Dean says darkly. But a moment later, he laughs. They both know each other too well to get in the middle of family arguments.

“So, what’s more important than Medieval European History today?”

“Nothing much.”

Dean smirks. “Sure. Well, I hope you and Mr Nothing used protection.”

Jo glares at him. “A _walk_ , Dean. I went for a walk.”

“In this weather?”

“I went to a coffee shop.”

They stare at each other in stony silence. Then Dean smiles. “Anywhere good?”

“Heavenly.”

“High praise, coming form you.”

“It’s on Main.” Jo rolls her eyes. “You planning on checking up on me?”

“And the cute guy who served you was...?”

Jo raises her eyebrows. “Called Anna.”

Dean just grins. “I didn’t know you were into that.”

Jo’s about to suggest some creative uses of a bottle opener she could demonstrate for him when the phone rings. She snatches it up with her best summer job receptionist voice: “Singer Auto, how may I help you?”

The customer wants to book an appointment, and as she wrangles with the outdated PC, Jo has plenty of time to resent Dean’s questions. The Winchesters might be as good as brothers to her, but Sam being away at Stanford doesn’t give Dean the right to quiz Jo on her love life instead. And even if it does, she doesn’t have to like it.

It’s not like anything even happened.

She’s just hanging up when Bobby appears.

“Where’d you leave the – don’t you have _class_?”

“Free period.” Jo tells him.

“Right.” Bobby clearly doesn’t believe her, but he’s not likely to say anything to her mother either.

Well. At least not today.

Dean passes Bobby a stack of papers. “She was just about to head back, right Jo? Give us five minutes.”

As soon as Bobby’s out of earshot, he drops his voice, and asks: “If something’s up with you, you’ll tell me, right?”

“Now you mention it, there is this one guy who won’t stop asking me questions...”

Dean pulls a face. “You know what I mean.”

“I can handle myself,” Jo tells him with a cool smile. “Nothing happened. If you don’t believe me, go ask at the café. Oh, and try the chocolate cake – it’s really something.”

 

After being politely kicked out of the auto shop, Jo finds herself back on the sidewalk, with nothing but possibility ahead of her. She feels like she could walk forever, pick a road and follow it until she finds something worth seeing. She’s free to do anything; this town is hers.

She sighs, and drags herself down to the bus stop to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to wrap her head around Calculus 101.

When she gets back home, neither she nor her mom mention the fight, but she offers to do the accounts for last week and her mom offers to make dinner. For the first night that week, Jo stays in; she sits in her room and runs her eyes over lecture notes until her thoughts slow to a sticky crawl. Then she sleeps, and dreams of being surrounded by stars.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna has been noticing Jo a lot lately, and other people are starting to notice her noticing.

It’s a busy morning at Heavenly, like Fridays always are, but halfway through the rush, Anna looks up to see the college girl with the cute smile – _Jo_ , she reminds herself – is next in line. Her brown eyes are bright and alert, and as she leans against the counter her mouth curls up at the corners.

“Hey,” she says.

“I’m guessing latte day?” Anna asks. She likes latte days. Espresso days are frazzled nerves and a tight, hard frown, but latte days... latte days are something else.

“Sounds good to me.”

A millisecond later Anna remembers that this requires her to tear her eyes away. She turns to the machines, and starts the coffee brewing.

“So,” Jo says behind her. “Do I get another wish?”

Anna fumbles the milk and nearly drops it. She can’t remember what possessed her to tell Jo about Gabriel’s silly little superstitious marketing gimmick. She stopped mentioning it to customers when she realised that she would never be able to sell it like her brother did. But it had popped into her head yesterday and she had just blurted it out.

She can’t believe Jo was listening.

“That depends,” she answers. “What happened with yesterday’s?”

“Nothing.” Jo shrugs. “But it was a long shot.”

“Some wishes take time,” Anna says. It’s one of Gabe’s favourite lines.

“Patience isn’t really my strong suit.”

Anna turns around, latte in hand, and there’s Jo’s face again, with raised eyebrow sharp and defiant and utterly belied by that teasing hint of a smile.

“Maybe you should hit refresh,” she suggests. “If it’s worth wishing for, it’s worth wishing for twice, right?”

“Hmm.” Jo’s response doesn’t sound particularly affirmative, but she takes the cup from Anna, holds it close in both hands and shuts her eyes. Even if she’s just appreciating the warmth, Anna is mesmerised by the sight of it, caught in the brush of long eyelashes against Jo’s cheek, the curl of blonde hair along her neck.

Jo’s eyes open. For a moment their gazes meet, and Jo looks full of hope.

Then Jo walks away and the next customer approaches, and Anna thinks – not for the first time – that she’s got it bad for the college girl.

 

“So, what’s got you in such a good mood?”

Anna and Gabe always handle lunchtime and the associated rush together, but it isn’t until they’re cleaning up that he drops the question on her.

“Nothing in particular.”

Gabe gives her his patented ‘who do you think you’re kidding, because I am the master of kids and you know you are not good enough to best _me’_ looks.

“What?” Anna asks, refusing to acknowledge his silently alleged superiority.

“You’ve been humming.”

Anna glares at him across the counter. “You sing all the time.”

“Singing is perfectly normal behaviour. Humming is suspicious.” Gabe smirks. “Especially when there are Disney songs involved.”

Anna tries her hardest not to look like he’s rumbled her, even in the face of damning evidence. “Just because I’ve had one good day –”

“Five,” Gabe corrects cheerfully. “Since the humming started. Yesterday was Katrina and the Waves.”

Busted.

“So,” Gabe says in his most irritating drawn out brother voice. “What’s her name?”

Anna decides there is only one logical course of action remaining: silence. She carries another tray full of cups to the dishwasher and refuses to make eye contact.

“Someone I know, then!” her brother declares. “Is she a customer? Hmm... are you hoping Sheriff Mills will get creative with those handcuffs?”

Anna almost laughs at the suggestion – Jody Mills is ten years older than her and happily married – but then she thinks of Jo and handcuffs in the same sentence and that’s a road she really shouldn’t go down any further.

Gabriel is watching her carefully, and whatever he sees on her face makes him frown.

“Come on Annie. You’re killing me here.”

“It’s nothing,” she insists.

Gabe’s eyebrows call her a liar, and a poor one at that, but promise to love her forever anyway provided she spills the beans.

Anna sighs.

“She’s a college student.” The words trip over one another in their rush to escape. “She buys a latte before class and drinks it at the bus stop.”

Gabe gives her a pointed look. “ _Details_. A _latte_ does not deserve Disney songs.”

_Jo’s do_ , Anna thinks, and there’s something in her brother’s expression that makes her feel she thought it too loudly. She glances away, her eyes turning to the last coffee-splattered table.

“Blonde hair, brown eyes,” she says aloud. “She’s... Well, Jo is –”

“Jo?” Gabe questions.

“We got talking yesterday,” Anna says, only slightly wincing at the memory of her awkwardness. “It was only polite to introduce myself.”

“And?”

“And we talked about the weather, and the coffee, and her job,” Anna says. “And... I offered her some chocolate cake.”

Gabe sucks in a sympathetic hiss of breath.

“Well,” he says slowly. “At least you know she remembers you!”

Anna glowers at him.

“It’s not that bad,” he insists. “I mean, she still came in this morning, didn’t she?”

Anna nods as she heads to grab her coat.

“Then there’s hope.” Gabriel waves a hand imperiously. “Ask her out.”

“No.” Now it’s Anna’s turn for incredulous facial expressions.

“Why not?”

“We don’t know each other,” Anna reminds him. “She’s pretty. I can appreciate that without wanting to date her.”

“You’re wasting a perfectly good opportunity!”

Gabe rolls his eyes, but Anna ignores him as she walks to the door.

She might enjoy being a familiar face to Jo, but that’s all she’s going to be.

 

The skies are still overcast from yesterday’s downpour, but it’s dry enough for Anna to indulge in a spot of people-watching. She stretches out on her favourite bench, notebook in her lap, and watches the passers-by rush through their afternoons.

Normally, she’d draw them – fast and rough, memorising faces in a moment and sketching it out before the snapshot in her memory fades to blankness – but today she’s struggling. However clear the face in her mind, they all seem to slip out from under her pen and run off the page like rain in the gutters.

After half an hour of tracing invisibly on the blank page, Anna admits defeat for the day, and turns her attention to the flock of starlings which swoop between the storefronts, trying to capture the tilt of wings in midair.

“Looking good, Angel.”

The sudden voice behind her makes her start, leaving a sharp strike of gray across the page.

“I’ll give you fifty bucks for it.”

“You know it’s not for sale.” Anna tucks her legs up next to her, and Ruby sprawls across the far end of the bench with an easy smile.

“It’s worth more,” she continues. “Especially if you had a buyer in mind. You could find one easily. People love having wings on them.”

“Not a tattoo designer,” Anna reminds her friend for the third time that month. “I’m just drawing. It doesn’t have to be ‘for’ something.”

“But you don’t have to do it for nothing, either.” Ruby shrugs. “If you didn’t want the saleswoman talk, you should have stuck to faces. No-one wants a stranger on their skin.”

Anna rolls her eyes, and returns her attention to the sketchpad. With a scrape of the eraser, the harsh line is wiped away – but there’s something not right about the set of the bird’s feathers.

“Creative block?” Ruby asks sympathetically. “Maybe you should branch out. Take some inspiration from one of those classes of yours. What is it tonight – quantum microscopy? Observational skiing?”

“Yoga,” Anna corrects.

Ruby smirks. “Well. _That’s_ a whole different genre of ink.”

Anna doesn’t quite manage to bite back her laugh.

“Not your style?” Ruby asks, eyes wide with feigned innocence.

“Yoga isn’t about sex,” Anna says. “It helps you relax. It’s good for focus. You should try it.”

Ruby snorts. “I don’t have time for that kind of thing.”

“But you can find the time to come and watch me sketch?”

“You’re good for business,” Ruby says. “Or you will be, one day. Just you wait.”

“It’s been a year!” Anna remarks.

“I know how to play the long game.”

Anna smiles down at her starling, soothing its ruffled feathers with a careful patch of shade. Ruby might joke about it, but she loves her job at the tattoo parlour – and however reluctant she pretends to be, she’s a better friend than Anna would once have expected of her.

“So then – never surrender?” she asks.

“Not when there’s something worth fighting for.” Ruby nudges her knee against Anna’s foot. “But I know how to pick my battles. I’d better be heading back.”

“Have fun,” Anna tells her.

“I will.” Ruby smiles, and raises her eyebrows. “Enjoy _yoga_.”

Anna tries to, but there’s something buzzing away inside of her which refuses to be soothed away.

Lisa, her yoga teacher, keeps correcting her breathing.

Ruby offers her five hundred dollars if she fills a notebook with birds, flowers and trees.

Gabriel starts enquiring after Jo’s outfits, and sings along loudly when Anna forgets not to hum.

Jo comes into Heavenly every morning, asks for a latte or an espresso, and either way, makes her wish.

And through it all, even though she promises herself she won’t, Anna keeps asking herself: how did her life wind up here?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo has midterms coming up, but she can't stand to spend all weekend cooped up in her room studying.

It only takes a few weeks for Heavenly to become a part of Jo’s morning routine – wake up, walk over, wish upon a coffee and head to the bus stop for another long day of lectures. So, when the Saturday before midterms arrives – and Jo finds herself awake earlier than seems reasonable for a weekend because her mother is _strict_ about no shifts during exam time – it only seems logical to pack up her notes and head over there.

“Are you moving in or something?” Anna remarks.

“Revision,” Jo says. “Needed to get out of my room for a while. You don’t mind?”

“Unless we need the table, you can stay as long as you like.”

Jo’s notes wind up spread out across the window table, a wild mass of shifting knowledge with a tendency towards sudden upheaval as she attempts to deduce whether _this_ pink sticky note was meant to mean ‘important’ or ‘neo-Gothic’ or maybe both.

As her little corner reassembles itself into a more tangled chaos, the rest of the cafe gradually fills up around her – but even when Jo glances up from a particularly dense paragraph of scrawl and is shocked to realise the midmorning rush has descended in full force, no-one attempts to oust her from her nest of words and highlighters.

It’s too good to last, so Jo isn’t surprised ten minutes later when Anna comes over.

“Sorry, I’ll –” She scrambles at the assorted papers, trying to cram them into a pile which might fit in her bag – where the hell did they all _come_ from?

“Don’t go,” Anna says, and her tone is so unquestionable that Jo drops the notes immediately. “I just thought you might like another latte.”

Jo clears a small corner of the table and sets the mug down carefully. “Are you going to tell me it’s a gift from the guy in the corner?”

“No,” Anna says with a faint smile. “It’s a gift from the barista who’s survived her share of cram sessions.”

For a moment, Jo can see Anna sat opposite her, asking for a second opinion on the correct ordering of some tangled knot of arrows against a timeline, or laughing out loud at the mistakes in her own handwriting. She wonders where Anna went to college, what her major was. For all Jo knows, this job is putting her through grad school.

“Well, thanks,” she says, scrounging in her pocket for a couple of dollar bills.

“You’re welcome.”

Anna retreats to the counter, and Jo hurls herself into Cellular Anatomy with renewed vigour.

 

The cafe empties out, and fills up again, and when Jo’s stomach gurgles loudly and she realises that the panini menu is in need of closer study she glances over to find a blonde man stood beside Anna serving customers; another barista has come on shift without her noticing.

They move around each other with the practised air of two people used to doing overlapping jobs in too small a space. There’s more than familiarity there though – their friendship would be obvious to anyone, as they tilt their heads close in passing and swap some muttered snatches of conversation which tease their expressions into sharply raised brows and quirking half-smiles. Jo wonders if that’s what she and Ash look like, after all these years of working together.

Then the man nudges Anna with his hip, waggles his eyebrows suggestively and says something which makes Anna glance guiltily over her shoulder in a way that can only be checking no-one overheard. Jo ducks back down among her papers, embarrassed to have caught sight of the moment.

Well. Jo’s sure never looked _that_ way about Ash.

Obviously, the pair are more than co-workers. It looks like Anna’s been dabbling in a little workplace romance. In spite of her earlier curiosity about the woman, Jo feels like this is too much information. She waits until Anna disappears into the back room before walking up to the counter.

“The scholar arises!” the man says. “What’s Jo short for anyway? I’m guessing Jolene.”

Jo blinks. Then her ‘guy across the counter flirting uncomfortably’ instincts kick in, and she blanks her face and says: “Ham and cheese panini please.”

“Sure thing, Jolene!” He smiles a little too wide, and Jo realises he’s the kind of guy who flirts with everyone. “You know, Annie’s told me _all_ kinds of things about you.”

“Has she really?” Jo’s scepticism comes automatically, but she’s more than a little surprised that this stranger knows her name.

“Gabe, where did -?” Anna sticks her head round the door, notices Jo and breaks off into a smile. “Hey. Lunch break?”

“That’s the idea,” Jo says, in a manner which no way implies ‘your boyfriend is too busy awkwardly hitting on me to get my panini.’

Nevertheless, Anna frowns. “Gabriel, could you _please_ go and retrieve the new box of biscotti from whatever corner you left it in?” Her glare implies grave yet unspecified consequences for any disagreement, and Jo can practically read the word ‘busted’ in her face.

Gabe barely looks at Anna, though, and his eyes are on Jo when he grins. “Always happy to help, Anniekins!”

He lingers for a moment too long before ducking through the staff door, and Anna looks exasperated.

“So,” she says. “You met Gabriel.”

“He’s really something, isn’t he?” Jo lets slip, before she remembers that she isn’t really qualified to pass judgement on Anna’s boyfriends, no matter how... _blatant_.

“That’s one way of putting it.” Anna’s smile is wry and so full of affection that Jo starts to think she’s misjudged the guy. He might be a creep, but it’s clear that Anna really cares about him.

“You been working together long?”

“A couple of years now,” Anna says. “Gabe bought this place not long after I moved in with him.”

Scratch ‘really cares’ about him; these two are _serious_. Jo can hardly imagine dating a guy for more than a month, let alone living together and running a business. She whistles through her teeth.

Then something occurs to her: “Wait. Does that make him your boss?”

“Oh, no-one’s the boss of Anna – unless she wants them to be.” Gabe reappears with a cheerful wink (Anna glares at the comment) and slides a box of biscotti onto the counter, shortly followed by a panini Jo could swear he never made.

“Ham and cheese, right?”

“Right.” Jo drops her money on the counter and lifts the plate. “Well, I’d better get back to work.”

“All work and no play is no way to live, Jolene!”

Anna rolls her eyes as she rings up Jo’s order. “I don’t suppose you’d want some company? I’d be happy to quiz you from your notes.”

“You don’t have to –”

“I offered,” Anna says sensibly. “My shift is over, and I don’t have anywhere to be this afternoon. Don’t tell me you want to study alone all Saturday?”

Jo shrugs. “Is there anything I can say to stop you?”

Anna smiles, hangs up her apron, and strides off in the direction of Jo’s table.

“Have fun together, ladies!” Gabe calls after them.

_Anna_ _loves_ _him_ , Jo reminds herself as she clears the papers off of just enough of the table to make room for the food. _Anna_ _loves_ _him_ _and_ _there_ _is_ _more_ _to_ _him_ _than_ _this_ _and_ “Is he _always_ like that?”

Anna’s just taking her seat when the words burst out of Jo and make her look up sharply. Jo’s expecting anger, but after a moment, Anna shakes her head.

“Sorry,” she says. “He can be quite charming when he wants to be. I think he’s being purposefully infuriating.”

“Why would he be?” Jo asks.

Anna purses her lips. “You’re here. He’s probably deciding whether or not to ‘approve’ of me talking to you. Not that it’s his decision to make, but...”

Alarm bells are sounding pretty loud in Jo’s head.

Then Anna shrugs a little. “I guess that’s what big brothers do.”

Oh. _Oh_. Jo quickly replays the last ten minutes in her head, and finds she is practically shaking with relief that Anna and Gabriel aren’t really dating.

“Tell me about it,” she agrees heartily. “Most of the time you’re a pain in their ass, but the second you talk to a guy, he’s not worth the ground you walk on.”

“You have a brother?”

“A couple of friends as good as,” Jo explains. “I’ve known Sam and Dean since I was in pigtails.”

“And they take care of you?” Anna is half-smiling at what must be some private thought. Jo wonders what it is.

“I take care of myself,” she corrects. “But I know better than to say no to backup.”

“Backup? Maybe they could teach Gabe a little subtlety.” Anna glances over Jo’s shoulder and bites her lip just a little. Jo cranes her head to see Gabe watching them. He flashes her a grin, and she winks back at him.

“Subtlety isn’t exactly Dean’s strong point either.” Jo lifts an eyebrow. “Do we want to risk the chance they make each other worse?”

Anna’s eyes grow wide for a moment. Then she laughs, a bright smile bursting across her cheeks and crinkling her eyelids shut as she ducks her head forwards in a cascade of hair. It takes a few seconds for her to catch her breath.

“Perhaps,” she says, glancing back up at Jo, “we should stick to Caribbean Literature?”

“Go on then,” Jo says with a heavy mock sigh. “Fire away.”

 

To Jo’s surprise, Anna stays most of the afternoon, finding witty mnemonics for each subject and teaching her the secret art of the flash card. By the time Anna announces she has to go, it’s already dark outside, and Jo remembers with a start that it’s her turn to cook that night.

She rushes home, and spends that evening and most of Sunday deep in a pile of papers. By the time she reaches Heavenly on Monday morning, she’s in that heady state of I-just-might-not-fail-horribly that’s halfway between confidence and fear. She sets her jaw and focuses on the former.

“What’s the test this morning?” Anna asks while she makes the espresso.

“Astrophysics.”

“Do you remember the spectral classes?”

Jo blinks, trying to remember.

“Oh...” Anna prompts, with the faintest smirk, and Jo suddenly remembers the rhyme they had recited back and forth to each other.

“Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me!” she declares, and Anna smiles as she hands over the coffee.

It’s the same every day that week. Anna manages to quiz her on everything from Cinematic Anthropology to Educational Psych, and more often than not, it comes up on the exam.

By the time Friday rolls around and the results come in, Jo’s surprised to learn she’s not only passed everything, but done better than she expected in almost all her classes.

She can barely keep the smile off of her face for the entire bus ride home, and when she steps off the bus and sees a familiar head of red hair on her way down the street, it only makes sense to jog over there and tell her: “I passed!”

Anna spins around and her eyes light up. “Really?”

“Even got a couple of A’s,” Jo boasts.

“Well done,” Anna tells her.

“What are you doing tonight? We should celebrate.” An idea occurs. “Come to the Roadhouse!”

“I wouldn’t want to -”

“You put as much work into this as I did.” Anna isn’t the only one who can insist on things. “Now comes the fun part!”

Anna smiles. “Is there anything I can say to stop you?”

“No.” Jo laughs. “See you at eight!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna meets Jo at the Roadhouse; not everything goes to plan.

The closed sign is over the cafe door, but the lights are still on inside where Gabriel is packing up the counter for the night, so Anna knows the door isn’t locked. As soon as she walks in, Gabe is staring at her.

“What?” she asks.

“You’re beaming,” he says suspiciously. “Either you just had the time of your life at Transcendental Whittling... or you’ve been talking to Jo.”

“I ran into her on my way back,” Anna explains. “She passed all of her midterms.”

“And...?”

“And she passed,” Anna sighs. “Can’t I just be happy about that?”

“You could be, but you’re not.” Gabe smirks infuriatingly.

“She asked me out for a drink to celebrate,” Anna says quickly, and before Gabe can even react she’s adding: “As _friends_. Nothing more.”

“You sure aren’t acting like you want to be friends,” Gabe observes. “And I hate to break it to you Annie, but neither is she.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “Please. She’s almost certainly straight. I doubt the possibility has even occurred to her.”

“And what’s your excuse?”

“I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.” Gabriel puts on his best unconvinced face. “I’ve got too many classes and not enough time.”

“But you’ve got time to sit outside drawing three hours a day?” Gabe frowns. “Anna – Jo’s a sweet kid. She clearly thinks you hung the moon. Why don’t you just let yourself have a little fun?”

Anna shakes her head. “I’m not having this discussion with you again. Do you mind locking up without me? I need to head home and take a shower, I told Jo I’d be at the Roadhouse by eight.”

“Mind if I swing by later? I’ve been meaning to check the place out.”

“Only if you behave yourself.” She pauses on her way out the door. “Please, don’t try hitting on her again.”

“I thought you said you weren’t interested?” Gabe calls after her, his laughter following her back onto the street.

 

Anna dithers over what to wear for far too long, unable to decide what’s appropriate for the occasion. Eventually, she decides on skinny jeans, and a red blouse that’s perhaps a little lower cut than she would normally wear. After all, she decides, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look her best.

She still manages to arrive five minutes early, and she’s nervous as she walks in that Jo won’t have arrived yet. But, as it turns out, she needn’t have worried.

“Anna! You made it!” Jo jogs over from a place at the bar, grabs Anna’s hand and pulls her over to where she was sitting. There’s a man already there – handsome and watching the two of them approach.

“So,” he says. “You’re the mystery barista Jo won’t shut up about.”

Anna recognises the sentiment immediately.

“And you must be Dean.” She makes a show of frowning slightly. “Jo’s told me a great deal about you also.”

For a moment, Dean’s expression is priceless, but when Jo starts laughing he catches on.

“Oh, hilarious,” he says, but he can’t keep the frown on his face for long. “Come on, I’ll get the first round. What are you having?”

“Bourbon,” Jo says without hesitation.

Dean laughs. “Yeah, enjoy your Diet Coke. I’m not buying you booze.”

Jo sighs dramatically, but Anna can tell it’s for show. She’s a little surprised – she figured Jo was in her final year of college, but she must be younger if she can’t buy her own alcohol.

“Same for me, thanks,” Anna says. She doesn’t have a fake ID for alcohol, and she wouldn’t use it if she did.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” Jo tells her. “Dean sure as Hell isn’t going to.”

Anna half-smiles, but shakes her head. “I don’t really drink.”

“Two Cokes it is.” Dean gestures to the barman. As he approaches, Anna notices that he’s sporting an impressive mullet.

“Sup, Winchester,” he says. “Who’s the pretty stranger?”

“Ash, meet Anna,” Jo introduces them.

“Ah, the study buddy!” Ash grins. “How’d the tests go, anyway?”

“She passed them all,” Dean announces for her. “Guess you’re not the only genius in town after all.”

“Right on.” Ash holds up a hand, and Jo dutifully high fives it. “Made it further than I managed to already.”

Anna isn’t following the conversation, but she smiles along as Dean orders and Ash heads back to the other end of the bar.

“It’s all thanks to you, you know,” Jo says to her suddenly. “You’re one hell of a revision partner.”

“So, what do you do when you’re not bailing out the college kids?” Dean asks.

Anna doesn’t know what to say. “I’m taking a few night classes around work.”

“Yeah, Jo mentioned something about that. But what do you do for fun?”

“I draw.” Anna blushes a little admitting it. No matter what Ruby might think, she’s always known that art isn’t exactly a career, but since she moved here it’s become an important part of her life.

“Really?” Jo asks. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s just a few sketches,” Anna insists. “I’ve not done a big project since we redecorated Heavenly.”

“You painted all those stars?” Jo lets out an impressed whistle. “You’ll have to show me some of those sketches sometime.”

Anna nods, awkwardly. She’s tries to tell herself there’s no reason to feel nervous – she shows Ruby her sketchbooks all the time – but if she’s being honest with herself, she knows why this is different.

“You know,” Dean says. “You’re actually the second artist I’ve met today.”

He launches into a story about someone who had come into the garage with a terrible DIY paint job on their convertible, and Anna finds that she’s actually having fun. It’s been a long time since she just hung out with anyone, and longer still since she made the effort to get to know a stranger. But with Jo at her elbow, smiling and laughing at each ridiculous anecdote, staying here seems like the easiest thing in the world.

“Joanna Beth, that had better be a soft drink you’ve got there.”

The new voice cuts across Jo’s explanation of the many eccentricities of her Bioengineering lecturer, and makes Anna start. She turns to find an older woman with long ash-blonde hair smiling at Jo.

“Course it is, Ellen,” Dean says quickly.

“Yeah, I know better than to drink in here, mom,” Jo says brightly, and Ellen chuckles.

“Who’s your friend?”

“Anna Milton, Ms Harvelle,” Anna introduces herself.

“Oh, honey,” Ellen smiles at her, and for a moment, Anna can see where Jo got her looks from. “Call me Ellen, everyone does. So, you’re Anna? I should be buying you a drink for getting Jo to study for her midterms.”

Jo rolls her eyes. “It’ll have to be a Coke if you do. She’s keeping me company tonight.”

“Well, isn’t that nice of her.” Ellen meets Anna’s eye for a moment, like she’s searching for something. If she finds it, she leaves Anna none the wiser. “Well, you kids have fun, I’ve got a business to run.”

She slips behind the bar, and heads over to talk to Ash.

Once she’s out of earshot, Jo lets out a heavy sigh. “Does she really think I’m still dumb enough to try and get drunk in her bar?”

Dean shrugs. “That’s family for you.”

Anna nods along her sympathy, but she knows Jo doesn’t mean it. For all that they might bicker, it’s clear that she and Ellen love each other.

The thought makes her a little wistful, and so perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised that, with his usual flare for timing, Gabriel chooses this moment to arrive. He spots them straight away and heads over.

“Heya Annie!” He throws his arm around her for a hug, even though they saw each other not three hours ago. “Jolene,” he greets Jo, accompanied by that ridiculous eyebrow waggle he’s so proud of. “And... I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Dean’s expression suggests otherwise. He’s frowning, and it takes him a second to speak.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he says slowly, and his tone makes it clear that this is not necessarily a good thing.

“Not unless you’re a customer I forgot – and I bet I would have remembered you.” Anna’s brother is really going all-out on the obnoxious false lechery. “Gabriel Milton, but _you_ can call me Gabe. Now, what do I call you?”

“Dean Winchester.”

There’s a moment of recognition on Gabriel’s face, chased by a second of pure panic. Anna’s not sure anyone else would notice, but she’s certain that Gabriel not only knows Dean, but quite possibly owes him money.

Dean is watching Gabriel closely, and from the clench of his jaw, recognition has finally arrived.

“Sammy.”

“No, Gabe. We just did the introductions, remember?”

The crack is weak and Gabriel doesn’t carry it like he should.

Jo purses her lips. “What about him, Dean?”

Dean puts down his drink, and fixes Gabe right in the eye.

“You’re the creep I caught with Sammy back when he was still in high school.”

Gabriel’s guilt is painted all over his face. Jo is staring at him in disbelief, but Anna, embarrassment tightening in her chest and heating her cheeks, has to admit that this sounds all too plausible for her brother.

Gabe takes a step back, smiling a little nervously. “Look, I –”

He doesn’t get any further, because Dean punches him in the face.

Everything goes very loud, or perhaps that’s just the rush of blood in Anna’s ears. Either way, she sees Jo grab Dean’s arm and start yelling without being to hear what it is she says. Gabriel staggers backwards, clutching his jaw, and Anna is at his side without even thinking, asking if he’s alright over the sound of her heart beating a mile a minute.

“I will not have fighting in my bar.”

Ellen’s voice cuts over the hubbub, and the entire room falls silent. She’s stood with her hands on her hips, glaring, and even though she’s a head shorter than him, Dean looks cowed.

“Out,” she tells him, and he leaves, slamming the door shut behind him.

After a couple of seconds, conversation slowly picks up again in the distant corners of the room as the strangers around them lose interest in the drama.

“I should go,” Gabriel mutters, heading for the door.

“I’m driving you home,” Anna insists, and the most worrying part is that Gabriel doesn’t try to argue with her as she follows him out to the parking lot.

Jo doesn’t come after them.

Anna doesn’t look back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After last night's disaster, Jo goes in search of Anna.

It takes Jo far longer than she knows it ought to gather up the courage to go to Heavenly the next morning, but even then, it’s early in the day when she walks through the door.

She stops halfway to the counter.

“Not who you were expecting?” Gabe asks. “I hope you’re not planning on breaking my face, I like it the way it is.”

“I thought Anna had the morning shift,” Jo says.

“She pleaded a morning off.” Gabriel’s face reads plainly that he’s holding Jo responsible for this. “So, you want a latte?”

Jo nods. Caffeine would come in hand right about now. It’s time to do the right thing and take some responsibility.

“I’m sorry about Dean,” Jo tells him. “He’s an idiot. If Sam had been there...”

Gabriel rolls his eyes. “He probably would have tried to defend my honour. Dean-o would have loved that.”

Jo nods, slowly. She’s still trying to readjust to the fact that Gabriel actually knows Sam. She can’t imagine the two of them in the same room, let alone...

“Listen, kid, I’ve known Dean’s an idiot since he chased me out of Sammy’s room with a shotgun three years ago. I’m sure as hell not going to hold it against _you_.”

He turns back to her with a pointed look.

“So it’s really not me you should be apologising to.”

“I know.” Jo bites her lip. “Do you have any idea where she is?”

“That would be a vile breach of my sister’s privacy,” Gabriel insists, handing over her latte in a to-go cup. Scrawled on the side in black marker are the words “main street bench LB.”

“Thanks.” Jo smiles with relief.

“Don’t mention it,” Gabriel insists, and Jo has a feeling he means that literally.

Jo has lived in the same town her entire life, and she knows the main street like the back of her hand, but it still takes her a few minutes to figure out Gabriel’s directions.

There are plenty of benches along the street, so LB has to mean some specific spot, but it isn’t until she almost strolls right past it that she realises the bench in question is outside Lily Blade, the piercing and tattoo joint which opened a couple of years back. She’s avoided the place ever since – the thought of a tattoo might be tempting, but it isn’t worth the lecture she’d get from Ellen about her recklessness and lack of consideration for the future.

The bench there is empty, but she sits down anyway, hoping that Anna appears soon.

Her coffee is only half drunk when a woman walks out of Lily Blade and sits beside her, stretching out in a way that implies Jo is impinging on her personal property. She gets an energy drink out of her bag and starts to sip slowly, seeming more interested in the people walking past than the bottle in her hands. Jo ignores her, and keeps watch for Anna.

“I think you’ve been stood up.”

It takes Jo a moment to realise the woman’s words are directed at her. She folds her arms, bites her tongue and doesn’t reply.

“You’re obviously waiting for someone, and they’re not here. There’s no need to get defensive.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Jo snaps, then fumes at herself for proving the stranger right.

She rolls her eyes. “When was he meant to meet you? I’m guessing a while ago...”

Jo resigns herself that this conversation isn’t going away anytime soon. “She’s not exactly expecting me.”

The woman pauses for a second, then says: “Don’t tell me you’re Angel’s new muse.”

“What?” Jo asks roughly, not in the mood for mysteries.

“Anna,” the woman says, catching Jo’s attention. “Although if you’re looking for _her_ , you should know she’s working this morning.”

“Gabriel told me she took the morning off.”

The stranger relaxes at that, as though by mentioning Gabriel Jo has passed some hidden test.

“I’m Ruby,” she says. “And I’m guessing you’re the mystery girl.”

“Jo,” she corrects. “What do you mean, mystery girl?”

Ruby sighs. “Anna comes here to draw. Most of the time, she’s all about the people. Last couple of weeks? Nothing but birds and trees. The only time I’ve ever seen her do that is when she’s itching to draw one face in particular.” She looks Jo up and down appraisingly. “You look like you could be her type.”

Jo bristles a little at that, but tries to ignore the feeling of being judged and found wanting on criteria she isn’t even aware of. She needs to find Anna, the sooner the better.

“Do you know where she is?”

“Why are you looking?” Ruby asks. “I could send her a message.”

Jo’s tempted to turn down the offer, but she grits her teeth. She needs to make this right.

“Could you tell her I want to apologise about the Dean thing?” she asks. “And if she still wants to talk to me –” Jo’s chest constricts at the thought of Anna hating her, but she has every right to after last night – “She knows where to find me.”

Ruby nods, and gets to her feet. Jo decides she should probably leave too, and crumples her coffee cup into the bin before standing.

“You could always try the cemetery,” Ruby’s voice calls, and by the time Jo turns she has disappeared inside.

 

The cemetery is on the other side of town, half an hour away at best. It’s cold out, and even at a brisk walk Jo barely makes it halfway before she’s wishing she had worn a warmer jacket. She distracts herself trying to work out what she’s going to say if she finds Anna. What _is_ there to say after last night?

Other than that she’s an idiot. Always has been, always will be, a world class expert in doing exactly the wrong thing.

If it had just been the punch, she would happily have disowned Dean and been done with it. She’d been tempted to do as much last night, when the shock had worn off enough for her to chase him home and kick off a screaming match in the basement apartment which lasted all of five minutes before Bobby came down to tell them to shut up.

Bobby hadn’t exactly been thrilled either, once Jo explained what she was shouting about. Jo thinks she knows why. Last night reminded her too much of the Dean she had first met, the sixteen year old with the leather jacket and the give ‘em hell attitude, who’d pick a fight just to get couple of days off of school on suspension.

Only this time, instead of the wide-eyed adoration she’d had back then, Dean’s behaviour pissed her off. He might still be an overprotective jerk when it comes to Sam dating – even more so than on the rare occasions she’d tried bringing a boy home – but Dean pays rent and keeps a car running and does the accounts at the auto shop. He isn’t meant to be one of those kids who comes in looking for trouble and has to be glared out of the door by her mother while Jo stands well back and doesn’t get involved.

Of course, that’s the worst part. That she didn’t manage to do anything. She might have tried for a moment there to stop Dean taking another swing, but when it mattered, she had fallen back and let Anna and Gabriel be embarrassed out the door without saying a damn word against any of it, and by the time she’d come to her senses, they had been long gone.

They deserved better than that. Gabriel deserved better than that – for all he could drive a girl to distraction with his ridiculous nicknames and narcissistic flirtations, he’d more than earned an ice pack and a sincere apology. And Anna...

Anna hadn’t been involved in any of it, but she’d clearly been shocked and upset. Who wouldn’t be? She’d been an invited guest, but instead of a celebration she’d had to watch her brother getting hurt while her friend sat by and did nothing to stop it.

Anna probably thinks Jo was on Dean’s side. She shouldn’t have been able to think that for a moment, let alone a day – and that’s assuming she lets Jo convince her otherwise.

A big if, considering Jo has no good explanation to offer her.

 

She makes it to the cemetery in good time, but that doesn’t mean that Anna hasn’t already got a text from Ruby and left. Or that she won’t before Jo tracks her down – the place is larger than she expected, wide and sprawling at the town limits.

She’s never been here before, never had the cause to be. Her daddy was cremated. She supposes that the Winchesters’ parents might be in here somewhere, but she wouldn’t know where. The place is a maze, and Anna could be tucked away in any corner of it, hidden from Jo’s sight by brown leaves and frosted marble.

She strides straight ahead, scanning for any signs of life, but the place seems deserted. She’s just wondering if she should turn around and retrace her steps when she catches sight of a flash of red hair just behind a tree branch.

Jo stops, trying to collect her thoughts, but Anna has already caught sight of her. Her stare is level and cool.

“Jo?” she asks.

“Hey.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo's arrival takes Anna by surprise, but the two of them have a lot to talk about.

For a moment, Anna thinks she must have fallen asleep. Jo has been at the forefront of her thoughts all morning, so it’s not surprising that she might appear in Anna’s dreams, offering a wide smile and the simple, open companionship of the day before.

But Jo’s shoulders are tense and her mouth is set, and Anna knows this is real from the way that nothing changes.

“Jo?” She tries not to let her voice shake. 

“Hey.” Jo makes no move towards her. She does not meet Anna’s eye.

Anna cannot understand, if she is awake, how Jo can be here. The cemetery is peaceful, and she enjoys sketching here in summer, but the only reason she’s here today is that she could not bear to be at the only place in town she knew Jo wouldn’t be visiting.

She thought that borrowing Gabriel’s car to drive out of the town centre would be enough, but apparently, she had been wrong. Jo must be visiting of her own accord, and Anna’s presence has forced her into a situation infinitely more awkward than any she hoped to avoid in town.

Coming here was cruel, all the more so for being unintentional.

“Ruby said that you might be here.”

It takes a moment for Anna’s brain to catch up with Jo’s words – long enough at least for her silence to have become awkward. Even when she does manage to understand that Jo has sought her out here, she can’t understand why. She doesn’t think Jo is petty enough to have come here to vent her rage, but nor can she let herself believe that Jo is giving her chance to patch things over.

“Listen, I –”

“Jo.”

They speak at the same moment, but Jo falls silent the second Anna’s voice is heard and shows no sign of being willing to continue.

“Jo,” Anna repeats after a moment. “I’m sorry.”

The words seem impossibly small in the open air.

Jo’s hands tense into fists, but she doesn’t speak. She doesn’t walk away either, and that’s all the cue Anna needs to elaborate.

“I should never have invited Gabriel without asking.”

She shouldn’t have gone in the first place, should never have surrounded herself with laughter and warmth when it could snap so easily, could turn itself inside out until the world sparked with adrenalin and that old rush burned through her again, sickening to the core.

“I understand why you’re angry –”

“I’m not,” Jo corrects, and her face finally softens. “Why the Hell should I be? It wasn’t your brother who was out of line.”

Anna doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Did you really think I dragged my butt out here to yell at you?” Jo sits down beside her. “I’m here to apologise to you. For Dean being a jackass, and for not coming after you. I should have made sure you two were okay.”

“We were fine.”

Jo’s jaw tightens. “Can you forgive me?”

Anna still doesn’t see what there is to forgive, but she nods, and the last of Jo’s tension drains away.

“So you’re not –?” Anna begins.

“If one more person asks my opinion on Sam’s sex life, I am not going to be held responsible for my actions,” Jo snaps, and Anna can’t help but smile at her exaggerated indignation. “Besides, it’s not like Gabriel is that much older than him, right?”

“He’s thirty.”

Jo’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really? I guess good genes run in your family.”

Curiosity strikes Anna, and she asks: “How old is Sam?”

“Twenty one.”

Anna winces a little at her brother’s inappropriateness, even if it’s hardly the first time she’s encountered such tales about Gabriel’s past.

“But that’s not what I was going to say,” she continues. “I wanted to make certain that you’re not in trouble with Ellen because of what happened.”

Jo shakes her head. “Mom wasn’t too happy, but it’s not me she’s mad at. You’re welcome back at the Roadhouse any time you like – although it might be best if Gabe steers clear for a while.”

Or we could go somewhere else.

The words form on Anna’s tongue immediately, but she knows better than to open her mouth and let them out. That’s a dangerous path, letting herself believe things which aren’t true. Last night ended badly; a repeat performance isn’t a good idea.

In the lull of conversation, Jo’s eyes drop to Anna’s lap. Anna remembers the sketch she was working of, pad forgotten across her knees, and for a moment she wants to snatch it to her chest and refuse to let anyone see – but she is already too late to hide the picture away.

 “Impressive,” Jo breathes, reaching out a hand. The page is three-quarters filled with sprawling branches, and Anna had just begun sketching in some headstones when Jo arrived. Jo traces over the tree’s outline with her fingertips, never making contact with the paper, then hesitates for a moment and meets Anna’s eyes again.

“May I?”

Anna’s been in this situation before, more times than she can count, but she thinks that this might be the first time in a long while that it has felt more like a request than a demand. Perhaps that’s why she passes the notebook over without complaint.

Jo’s fingers brush her own.

“You’re cold.”

Jo, her eyes on the page, hums in agreement.

Anna frowns. “Did you _walk_ here?”

“Don’t have a car,” Jo says, like that’s a good reason to cross town on foot without a jacket as the autumn is drawing in fast.

Anna reaches out carefully, testing Jo’s fingers against her own, warm in her fingerless gloves. It’s like holding hands with an ice sculpture.

“This is really –”

“You’re freezing.” Anna gets to her feet. “Come on.”

That gets Jo to look up. “Where are we going?”

“You need to get inside somewhere warm,” Anna insists.

“I’m good,” Jo insists right back. “I want to –”

Anna snatches the notebook off of her. Jo makes a grab for it, but she’s too slow.

“You can look when we get there,” Anna promises. “I need to get back before my shift starts anyway.”

Jo glares at her. “You owe me a latte.”

 

Gabriel’s smile when they walk through the door is just edging into smugness, and Anna knows she’s getting an ‘I told you so’ as soon as Jo is out of earshot. She flips him his car keys a little harder than she might normally, but he snatches them out of the air with ease.

“Hope she’s still in one piece,” he jokes.

“You’re the one who pissed off the best mechanic in town,” Anna reminds him drily.

Gabe ignores her. “And how’s Jolene today?”

“Waiting on my latte.” Jo shoots an impatient look at Anna. “What am I getting you?”

Anna hesitates. She hadn’t expected to be joining Jo today. She’s due to go on shift in ten minutes, but as soon as she glances at the clock, Gabriel interjects: “One latte and a cinnamon hazelnut mocha, coming right up!”

“Cinnamon hazelnut mocha?” Jo echoes, sounding a little sceptical. Anna knows it’s a little overboard, but Gabriel’s favourite sugary concoction is hard to resist.

“We have a lot of time to experiment with the drinks,” she explains, weakly.

“Wish I could say the same about the Roadhouse.” Jo smirks. “Now, are you going to hand that book over, or do I need to take it from you?”

“You mean this book?” Anna holds it up teasingly. “And what if I’ve changed my mind?”

She’s only half joking, but Jo laughs and grabs the sketchpad off her, and Anna lets her bury her nose in it. When Gabriel returns with the coffees and Jo rummages in her pocket one-handed for change, Anna has to glare him out of passing comment. Nothing can keep him from giving them a knowing look, but fortunately Jo is too engrossed to notice.

Anna takes both of their drinks and elbows Jo into following her to a table, but even when they sit down Jo’s eyes don’t leave the page for a moment, and her latte remains untouched.

Jo drinks in the pictures with her eyes dancing, so spellbound she doesn’t even pause to rest the book on the table before her. Her free hand never touches the paper except to flip the page, but Anna watches as she sketches lines and swirls across the air. All the while, emotions flit across Jo’s face, pursed lips and a quirked smile all that is betrayed of her reactions. Anna’s just about to ask what she thinks when Jo suddenly meets her eyes, and Anna realises she’s been staring again.

“This is amazing,” Jo says, so bluntly that Anna is left with no room for modesty. “How did you learn to draw like this?”

“A lot of practise,” Anna tells her.

“I’ll say.” Jo smiles, and flips a page back to take a second look at a sketch of an old car Anna had drawn parked in the street. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Anna blushes a little at the praise. “Are you planning on drinking that latte any time today?” she teases.

Jo rolls her eyes, but she finally puts the book down. “Only if you’re drinking with me. We’ve got to make the most of our free wishes.”

Anna smiles back at her and lifts her mug, but when Jo shuts her eyes, Anna doesn’t copy her. She can’t bring herself make the wish she would like to, but for today, getting to see Jo’s smile is more than enough.

Jo opens her eyes and takes a sip of her coffee, and Anna glances away.

“You know,” Jo says, “if you’ve got any more sketchbooks, I’d love to take a look sometime.”

“We’ll see.” She’s reluctant to say yes, but, unexpectedly, Anna finds she wouldn’t mind sharing her art.

 

The next day, when Ruby joins her on their usual bench, it’s with a sharp smile.

“Jo was looking for you,” she informs Anna.

“She found me,” Anna replies without looking up from her sketch. “Somewhere I wasn’t expecting her to.”

The barb is pointless. Ruby doesn’t do guilt.

“She does know you’re gay, right?” Anna looks up sharply at Ruby’s words. “Only she was looking to talk to you about some guy.”

“What, Dean? That was about something else,” Anna tells her.

Ruby’s piercing look lets her know that her evasion of the question hasn’t passed unnoticed.

“Then did you kiss her?”

Anna splutters, but the reaction only makes Ruby look smug.

“I bet she wanted you to,” she continues.

“We just talked,” Anna tells her. “I drove her back to the cafe to warm up, and she looked at some of my sketches.”

“So it’s serious.” Ruby’s eyebrows rise. “You won’t show anyone that thing.”

“You look at my art all the time!” Anna protests.

“You know better than to try and stop me,” Ruby tells her, looking thoughtful. Anna finds her expression more than a little concerning.

“You know,” Ruby says suddenly. “The problem with your art is that it’s never just a drawing. You always have to fall a little bit in love with your subject.”

Anna is sceptical. “I draw strangers, Ruby.”

Ruby shrugs. “It’s easy to fall in love with someone when you don’t know the first thing about them.”

Anna lets out a surprised huff of breath, and tries to ignore the sudden twist in her stomach. Ruby looks on with understanding eyes, and for a second Anna hates knowing that it’s moments like this which have made their friendship.

“You’ll figure things out,” Ruby tells her, and the moment passes as she smiles a little evilly. “Trust me.”

“I know you too well for that,” Anna shoots back, and Ruby laughs as she goes back inside.

 A few minutes later, Anna leaves too. The shops will be closing soon, and she’s nearly out of cocoa powder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo and Anna have been getting along well, but that doesn't mean Jo's not nervous about visiting Anna and Gabe's house for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you to everyone who's read this far. I hope you're enjoying it.
> 
> Please remember you can always drop me a comment if you have any feedback or questions about the story - although I reserve the right to answer "spoilers!"

Jo’s never been the type to have a lot of girls as friends.

Even back in grade school, she always preferred soccer to sleepovers. Then it had been her and the Winchesters, raising a little Hell together – at least when Dean wasn’t trying to keep the ‘little girl’ out of harm’s way.

She’d made a few friends in class, but working weekends through her senior year hadn’t exactly done wonders for her social life. There had been the occasional guy willing to make the effort, but none had turned out to be worth much of her time. By now, most of the kids she had known were at college out of state, and those who were working in town had better things to do with their time.

She never missed them much. At least at the Roadhouse she had Ash at her shoulder, her mom in the office, and Dean at the bar flirting with any girl in sight just to pass the time. That made sense in a way that college parties never would.

So it’s unexpected to say the least when Jo finds herself spending more and more time in the cafe, with Anna sat across from her, a thousand stars looking down on them, and Gabriel at the counter, passing out innuendos with every cup.

It’s nothing like what Jo is used to, but it works – so well that she finds herself making excuses to drop by after college and help the two of them close up, or dragging her latest essay down on Saturdays to be there for the hour between the end of Anna’s shift and the time she leaves for her Engraving workshop.

She doesn’t have any illusion that the root of her interest in Heavenly lies with Anna herself – talented and witty and shockingly easy to talk to, Jo can’t help but be drawn to her, for all that she doesn’t know how to be friends with girls. When she’s around Anna, that problem is easy to forget.

But Jo isn’t going to be the one to mention meeting somewhere else again. She’s not much for superstition, but the trip to the Roadhouse was a fuck-up, and for all it might not have been hers, it feels like a bad sign.

Heavenly is damn near home turf for the both of them now, and they can stick with that.

 

“How’s it going?”

It’s a gloomy Saturday in that dull stretch of November where the television believes it’s Christmas already but break is still only a distant smudge on the horizon. Anna has wandered past her table to ask after her problem set half a dozen times, but this time Jo slaps the pen against the desk triumphantly.

“Done!” she declares. “I thought that was going to take me all weekend.”

“Ahead of schedule is good,” Anna observes.

“At this rate, I might have whole hour free tomorrow,” Jo mutters. “But for now, I call break.”

Anna rolls her eyes, but she goes to the counter to fetch her sketchpad and hands it over. Jo grins, and starts flipping through the drawings from the last week.

“No swallows lately?” she calls across the cafe after a minute.

“I think they’ve all gone south already,” Anna answers over her shoulder. “Looking for somewhere warm.”

The few customers present don’t seem to notice the conversation being held across half the room. Most of them are regulars; they’re used to it.

“Can’t say I blame them,” Jo mutters, turning the page. “Nice work on the birch. You’ve got the bark down.”

“I worked on that over the summer.” Anna comes closer to clear off the table next to Jo’s. “It looked amazing when the leaves were still on.”

“You’ll have to show me those sometime,” Jo muses.

“How about tomorrow?”

Jo freezes for a second. She must have misheard.

Heavenly doesn’t open on Sundays.

“You’re ahead on work and my Aikido class is done by four.” Anna drops her cloth on the table. “You could come over and look through my old sketchpads.”

Normally, Jo would try her best to pick up a shift on Sunday night, but it seems for the first time in a long while, she has a better offer.

“Sure.” she says quickly. “I’ll be there.”

Anna nods, and grabs Jo’s notepad, perching on the edge of the empty table as she begins to write with grim focus. When she presses the paper back into Jo’s hand, the top page bears an address.

“I’ll see you there,” Jo repeats, and Anna’s expression lightens into a faint smile.

“Break’s over,” she declares, picking up her sketchbook. “Get back to work. You’ve got plans tomorrow.”

 

The next day at ten past four, Jo is hurrying down Elysian Road looking for – she squints once again at the scrap of paper clutched in her hand – number 215. She’s running late, and the sun is already kissing the rooftops, painting the horizon with an arc of orange and blood red.

When she finally comes across the right house, she damn near overshoots, and instead comes to a complete halt. She’s only a few feet from Anna’s doorway. A part of her thinks, _there’s still time to head to work, Ash would let you cover his shift. Everything can stay normal._

But she’s a long way past that point now. She told Anna she’d show, and Jo Harvelle doesn’t break her word. Anyway, the fizz of nerves in her belly is completely unwarranted – this is _Anna_ , it’s not like she’s going to try and braid Jo’s hair or paint her nails fuchsia.

Jo smoothes down her top, strides forwards and knocks on the door.

“Hey.” Anna comes to the doorway in seconds, and Jo is left with the guilty impression she was been waiting in the hall. “Come on in.”

Jo steps inside, shucks off her coat and her shoes, and asks after Gabriel.

“He’s out,” Anna responds. “He might be back later.”

Jo nods, and tries to think of another topic of conversation, but they seem to have deserted her.

She hangs her coat in silence.

“Do you want to come upstairs?” Anna asks.

“Sure.”

She trails after Anna onto the landing, and through one of the doors.

Her jaw drops.

Birds. Everywhere. Hawks hovering above eagles, gulls diving beside petrels, a treeful of owls surrounded by an intermingled flock of starlings and sparrows and wrens and plenty more Jo couldn’t think to name. And at the centre of it all, a phoenix, soaring out of the ashes to blaze in technicolour glory above Anna’s bed.

“Holy shit.”

Anna blinks.

“This must have taken you months,” Jo continues. “I don’t even know what half of these – is that one a finch?”

“American goldfinch,” she names the lutescent specimen in question. “It didn’t take me that long. I had a lot of free time. I was bored of the Discovery Channel.”

“I’ll say.” There have to be hundreds of different birds painted here, and the centrepiece is like nothing Jo’s ever seen before. The phoenix is a sprawl of scarlet across half of the wall, wings outstretched and flecked with bronze and umber and violet while golden tail feathers trail back into a fierce burst of flame.

“They’re mostly copied from books.”

Jo’s sure that isn’t true – definitely not for that firebird – but there’s a note of irritation in Anna’s voice that tears her attention away from the walls. She’s certain for a moment that she’s somehow done something wrong, but it’s the paintings that Anna is staring at with lips pursed.

“And books are what I came here to see, right?” Jo prompts, and Anna turns that flat, level stare on her. For a moment, she feels like she’s being taken apart like a car at the shop, her components dismantled and every fault catalogued in detail.

Then Anna looks away, heads to the cupboard and opens it to reveal a stack of sketchpads almost up to her waist.

“This might take more than an evening,” Jo observes. “You get through a lot of these things.”

“I suppose I do.” Anna doesn’t look particularly enthusiastic about this fact.

Jo grabs the top book in the pile, and elbows her friend lightly in the side.

“Come on,” she says. “Talk me through it.”

 

An hour or so later, Jo’s back is pressed up against the end of the bed as she leafs through the fourth sketchbook in the tower, listening to Anna’s voice above her where she’s sat on the mattress, and the sound of Anna’s pencil scratching on the paper.

“I’ve seen that Bug around a lot,” Anna is telling her. “The driver must work somewhere on Main Street...”

“Hey!” Jo is taken by surprise as she flips over the page and finds not another tree or bird or lamppost, but a person. “So you do draw people!”

She glances up at Anna, but peering up from below makes it impossible to read her expression.

“Sometimes.”

She turns the page again, and finds another face looking up at her.

“Most of the time, she’s all about the people.” Jo remembers Ruby’s words from that day outside Lily Blade. She hadn’t given it much thought, considering she’s never seen Anna draw a human before. But there are plenty of pictures here, and a nagging question rises in her: “You look like you could be her type.”

“You ever draw anyone you know?” she asks.

Anna takes a second before responding. “When the mood strikes me.”

A part of Jo wants to press the issue, but she’s reluctant to take Ruby’s comments at face value when she barely knows the woman. Besides, she doesn’t want to seem pushy.

“I know this guy,” she says instead, tapping the picture in front of her. “He taught me English in High School. You know, he came into the Roadhouse one night and...”

 

By the seventh sketchbook, Jo is getting restless. Anna’s art is lovely, but she’s never been a big fan of sitting in one place for long. She’s beginning to wonder if she should make her excuses and go when Anna says: “You know, if you wanted to we could watch a movie.”

Okay, that’s good too.

They head downstairs, and Anna grabs a packet of microwave popcorn while Jo investigates the DVD shelf. It doesn’t take her long to find something she can’t resist.

“What do you say to Princess Bride?” she calls.

Anna smiles from the doorway. “As you wish.”

They turn on the TV, collapse onto the couch together, and quickly begin bickering about whether Buttercup should have forgotten Westley and moved on, or – _obviously_ , Jo thinks – gone after him herself.

They’ve just reached the part with the iocaine powder when Gabriel walks through the door. When he sees what they’re watching, he grins and throws himself between them in the centre of the sofa.

He steals half of the popcorn, but Jo has to admit, he has the best bad accent of any of them in the chorus of ‘Prepare to die.’

Jo leaves with a smile on her face, and still gets plenty of sleep before Monday’s morning classes.

She can’t remember what she was so worried about.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna spends Thanksgiving with Gabriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just checked my AO3 stats and realised this fic has gained me about 10 new subscribers. Hello, everyone! Thank you so much.

“So, you up for making a pumpkin pie for Thursday?”

“Only if you’re ready to roast the world’s smallest turkey.”

The cafe is bustling with the run-up to Thanksgiving, and in the tight space of the stock room, Anna is pretending not to notice the bright edge of nerves which creeps into Gabe’s voice every holiday season.

“I might not need to,” he says, giving her a moment’s pause before he raises and eyebrow. “Does Jo have plans?”

“I presume she’s spending the day with her mother,” Anna replies. “It is traditional.”

“Guess it’s just you, me and a lot of basting then, kiddo!” Gabriel calls after her as she heads back out to the counter to deal with the mounting queue.

When Jo arrives just before the end of Anna’s usual shift, she takes a wary look around.

“Guess we aren’t the only ones who get a rush on this time of year,” she comments. There are about twice as many people in here as normal, most of them strangers visiting over the break.

“Good to know it’s not just us,” Anna says.

“No class and a bunch of bored college kids looking to reconnect? I’m going to be pulling extra shifts all week.” Jo grimaces. “And cramming for finals every day. Whose dumb idea was it to stick us with tests right after Thanksgiving?”

“Doing anything special on the day?”

Jo shrugs. “Sam’s spending it with Jess and her family, so it’ll only be Dean and Bobby coming over. We get the happy couple for Christmas though. What about you – got somewhere to head off to?”

“No,” says Anna. “It’s just going to be me and Gabriel.”

“And more food than anyone knows what to do with?” Jo chuckles. “I’m meant to be making something – none of us can cook, so we all do.”

“I could email you a pumpkin pie recipe if you want,” Anna suggests.

“Why not give it to me now?”

Anna tries not to let her guilt show in her face. “I’m going to be working extra hours today. With how busy it is, I can’t afford not to.”

“Fair enough,” Jo says, taking her coffee and breathing over it for a second with eyes closed. “Classical philosophy it is!”

Anna wonders briefly if Jo still makes her wishes, or if she simply takes that moment for peace, but then the next customer arrives and she has no time for further consideration.

 

By closing time on Wednesday, Anna is more than ready for a day off.

Since Photography class isn’t running this week, she’s spent the two hours since Gabriel insisted she get out of the cafe in Lily Blade, hanging out with Ruby and Meg. Even though it’s been years, Anna still feels like she’s getting used to Ruby’s girlfriend – the way the two of them can leap suddenly from intimacy to argument, or Meg’s disconcerting habit of flirting with everyone she meets – but they’re relaxed. The shop is mostly empty, and its owners are more concerned with Black Friday than what precedes it. It makes a change.

Anna sits down, breathes and tries to forget how busy the last week has been. Surprisingly, Meg’s attempt to play saleswoman helps, even if it leaves Anna vaguely uncertain whether its her drawings or something else that they’re supposedly negotiating for.

Two minutes after Heavenly closes, she brushes off Meg’s final offer and hurries back down the road.

“I thought I told you to get home,” Gabriel frowns when she walks through the door. His stern schoolmaster impression is not as exaggerated as he probably intends it to be; it’s too close to his cry of: “You’ve been on your feet since opening, Annie. Scram!”

“You arrived three hours early today,” Anna reminds him. “And this will go faster with two sets of hands.”

Gabe waggles his eyebrows, and Anna can almost hear the ‘that’s what she said.’ She rolls her eyes, grabs an apron, and starts wiping the tables down.

 

The next morning, Anna wakes up in a panic just after her alarm would normally go off – five thirty am, ready to walk down to the cafe at six and start opening up. She tries to doze again, but before long she admits defeat at the hands of her own subconscious, and pads her way downstairs for coffee.

The house is silent except for Gabriel’s snores – which he would, of course, deny the existence of – and Anna’s long years of practise mean she barely makes a sound as she tucks her bare feet up onto the chair, away from the icy tiles. She yawns as she lowers the steaming mug onto the table, but she can’t help but smile.

Thanksgiving.

It still feels strange having it here – especially in the stillness of the early morning – and a part of her thinks she isn’t ever going to be used to turkey for two. But every year that passes feels a little more normal, and she knows there is nowhere else she would rather be today. She can’t think of anything better to be thankful for.

After a few minutes, the caffeine kicks in, and knocks Anna out of her vague melancholy. She blinks at the kitchen; with no cafe to run and three hours at least until Gabriel awakes, she needs something to pass the time. Preferably something within arm’s reach.

She smiles, and grabs for the shopping list.

It’s been a while since Anna had the time or the inclination to doodle, but she does so now, letting the pen drift across the margins and trace out abstract geometries, delicate flowers, animated stick figures.

When she’s filled all the blank space around ‘bread, eggs, Dairy Milk,’ she turns onto the back of the paper and continues. It’s only when she finds herself frowning at a squashed oval that she pauses. She wants to fill in that shape with features – and not just any face, but one in particular she knows all too well.

From the way Jo acted when she came over, Anna suspects she wouldn’t object to playing artist’s model. Anna has been tempted to do it more than once – to pin Jo’s smile safely onto paper with a few short smears of graphite. But it still doesn’t feel right somehow; if she’s going to do this, it isn’t going to be squashed in the corner of a half-torn scrap of notepaper.

She gives the blank face a cartoon grin, and sets the pen down. It’s about time she went to take a shower.

 

Gabriel finally descends around ten o’clock, lured to the kitchen by the smell of fresh croissants – “Thanks Annie! I knew there was a reason I kept you around!” “You can have some when you put some pants on.” – and returns five minutes later, fully clothed and ready to start cooking.

Anna’s in charge of stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, while Gabe is handling the vegetables and the incredibly tiny turkey – which, Anna is well aware from her first Thanksgiving with Gabriel, is far better than over-estimating the amount two people can eat and living off turkey sandwiches until January.

They spend most of the day in the kitchen, keeping an eye on the oven even when there’s no active cooking to be done. Gabe sets some eighties rock playing, and they both sing along loudly until their voices are sore. Anna keeps grabbing the notepad they use for shopping lists to doodle some more, finding that every time she returns to the stove for a moment, her latest comic will mysteriously receive a raucous punch line.

All the food is ready in a rush, a carefully measured chaos of timers bleeping and hot dishes being transferred around, until it is almost a surprise to find that they are both sitting at the table, with a full spread in front of them.

Anna looks at Gabriel, and for the first time she can remember, she doesn’t have to ask before he starts talking.

“I am thankful for... vodka jelly shots, and cinnamon hazelnut mochas, and your chocolate brownies. And I guess there are worse things than having you around to make them for me.”

 “I’m thankful for Heavenly, for my art, for my friends and for having a home here.”

She doesn’t add Gabe to the list; she doesn’t need to. She just smiles, and for a moment Gabe’s expression is uncharacteristically sincere.

Then he shakes his head. “Annie, you take this far too seriously. Let’s eat.”

 

After the day’s break – the remainder of which, after dinner, is spent watching Star Wars DVDs and slowly eating through far more of the pumpkin pie than they intended to – business at Heavenly returns to normal, plus the usual boost in customers brought on by the anticipation of Christmas.

The only major change is Jo. After an eager thanks for the pumpkin pie recipe – apparently Dean’s seal of approval is hard to come by – Jo buries herself under a mound of papers, quite possibly with the intention of never emerging again.

Finals are getting closer by the minute.

Anna knows her fair share of revision tricks. Probably more than is fair, considering she learned from Gabriel, who she’s pretty sure learned his entire degree less than a week before the exam. She passes each one on eagerly, coaching Jo through Sociology textbooks and Econometrics diagrams alike.

But there’s only so much assistance she can offer, and she spends far too much time in that early stretch of December stood at the counter, watching Jo frown over her notes and dig around in her bag for yet another colour of highlighter.

The third time she catches herself tracing out curves in the coffee dust, she finally admits defeat and gets out her sketchpad. Jo is almost perfectly still, engrossed in her reading, and there is something breathtaking in the curve of her shoulder and the soft curl of her hair.

It doesn’t really hit Anna until the drawing is finished that it exists now, permanently. She quashes an urge to tear up the entire page, and quickly puts her notebook away again.

 

The evening after her last exam, Jo’s bus is late, and the wait has Anna biting her lip. They’ve already locked up when Jo finally arrives across the street, looking haggard but relieved as she crosses over to join them.

“Could have been worse,” she reflects, wrapping an arm around Anna’s waist in half an embrace. “I owe you, big time.”

“You owe yourself,” Anna counters.

Jo snorts. “Right now, I’ll take a full night’s sleep as payment. See you tomorrow.”

 

She arrives late in the morning that Saturday, and Anna’s heart is beating rabbit-fast when she hands over the last couple of week’s worth of drawings, but the hum-squeak-sigh sound Jo makes when she finds the sketch is so, so worth it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo's holidays arrive, and with them, so does her family, in the form of Jess and Sam visiting from Stanford.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: the chapter after this one has not yet been written, so next week's update relies directly on me finding time to finish it in the next seven days. If I don't manage to, there will be no update next Wednesday, but I will pick up again a week later once term is over and I have more time to write.
> 
> Update: I definitely need to take a week off, and looking at the current arc, this is the best place to pause. Apologies for the delay, hopefully we'll be back to normal after a week's hiatus.

Winter break is not so much a change of speed for Jo as a gear-grinding lurch sideways. Having spent three weeks straight living off triple espressos and highlighter fumes, she could happily spend the next month hibernating somewhere far away from textbooks and sticky notes. Instead, she gets a weekend’s grace, and then the holidays arrive in earnest, in the form of Sam and Jess, visiting from Stanford.

Not that it isn’t be great to have Sam back for a couple of weeks, but Jess is a different story. She and Sam have been dating for a little over a year, but Jo’s never actually met her in person. Sure, Jess sounds great from a couple of Skype calls, but she and Sam seem to be pretty permanent. Jo can’t help but be a little worried about how she’s going to get on with the gorgeous law major her brother has fallen in love with.

Dean pulls the car up outside Bobby’s just before lunch on Monday. Jo falls back for the greetings and the hugs and the chorus of ‘how was the drive?’ and heads to the trunk to start carrying bags inside, but she barely has time to touch the car before Jess is at her side.

“You must be Jo!” Jess wraps her arms around Jo’s shoulders tight, and when she lets go, she’s beaming. “It’s so great to finally see you face to face.”

“Great to see you too!” Jo answers, smiling a little too wide. Then Sam appears at Jess’s shoulder, and Jo relaxes for a moment as she cranes her neck up at him.

“You grow taller again since summer?” she asks.

“No, you’re just shrinking,” Sam teases back, then wraps her into a second, slightly more enthusiastic, hug.

“Alright, come on,” Dean says, pushing past them to pop the trunk. “Let’s get these two moved in.”

Jo winds up without anything to carry – Jess has, somewhat unexpectedly, only brought one case – and instead, she and Jess tag along behind the boys as they haul the bags inside.

“So, how’s college going?” Jess asks. “Have you picked your major yet?”

“No, still undeclared,” Jo answers, rolling her eyes at the back of Jess’s head. She gets that question a lot.

“Your finals only just ended, right?” Jess continues. “That must have been a real pain in the ass.”

“Last one was Friday.”

“You must be exhausted!” Jess stops halfway down the hallway, turning to lay a hand on Jo’s arm. “Let me know if you need a break from all this family stuff – I’m sure I can keep Sam occupied for a few hours. Unless you’d rather blow off a little steam?”

“We having a party?” Dean calls down from the top of the staircase.

“I was thinking girls’ night,” Jess calls back without turning around.

“Don’t be fooled, Jo, she just wants you to tell her Sam’s dirty little secrets.”

Sam elbows his brother in the ribs. “You already spent the car ride down here telling her all the embarrassing baby stories.”

“Oh, I’m sure I can think of a few Dean doesn’t know,” Jo tells him.

Sam puts a hand over his eyes. “Sorry, did I say this was my family? I meant total strangers who know nothing about me...”

“You kids gonna stand out there gossiping all day, or are you gonna come eat something?” Bobby calls from the kitchen, and Dean finally comes clattering down the narrow staircase.

“Don’t worry, baby.” Jess hooks her arm through Sam’s as he reaches the hall. “I’m sure it won’t be half as bad as the stories I have to tell _them_.”

 

Jess turns out to be unwaveringly friendly through the entire afternoon – and, as promised, more than willing to tell tales which make Sam groan. Jo had been expecting to be stuck with tour guide duty for most of the next week, which it now appears might not be such a terrible fate, but instead Jess pleads Christmas shopping and Jo finds herself with Tuesday free.

“The girlfriend has arrived,” she announces to Anna across the counter.

“What’s the verdict?”

“Pretty cool,” Jo observes. “But she eats her fries with mayo.”

“Definitely a sign of ill intent,” Anna says seriously, and they share a quick smile.

“You’re here early,” Anna observes. “Gabe hasn’t even arrived yet.”

Jo shrugs. “I’ve got presents to buy. I’ll head out once I’ve warmed up. You get off at one, right?”

“Right.” Anna hands over her latte, and Jo takes it in her hands, holding it close enough that she can feel the steam on her nose. It only takes a moment for her eyes to find her star, that one splash of scarlet halfway between the menu and the shelf of syrups, and then they’re squeezed tight shut as she makes her daily wish.

When she opens them again, Anna is watching her with thoughtful eyes.

“Looking for the subject of your next sketch?” Jo asks.

Anna shakes her head. “I’m fast, but I’m not that fast.”

Somehow, that feels like a question, but if it is, Jo doesn’t know the answer.

“See you later,” she says, taking her coffee to the table.

She only intends to sit for a minute, just long enough to finish her drink and defrost from the icy wind outside. She makes it to about ninety seconds before she glances at the window and sees a familiar face.

“Hey!” Jess mouths at her through the glass. She beams at Jo, nudging Sam to get his attention, and Jo can’t help but smile back at the two of them as they make their way inside.

“Mind if we join you?” Jess asks. “Coffee sounds like a great idea.”

“Sure...”

They drop their shopping bags under the table, and Sam looks around. “I can’t believe this place is still here. I used to come here all the time back in high school.”

Jo raises her eyebrows at that, but Sam’s too busy examining the room to notice.

“The stars are new...”

“Like what I’ve done with the place, kiddo?”

Sam spins around fast enough that Jo’s surprised he doesn’t break anything.

“... _Gabriel_?”

The only reason the room doesn’t fall dramatically silent is because there are in fact several other tables occupied by people totally oblivious to the awkwardness stretching out across the cafe.

Sam’s jaw has dropped. Gabriel is resting nonchalantly against the door into the back room. Anna’s fingers curl into a line of tension on the counter.

Jo is torn between burying her head in her hands and a sudden urge to laugh, but she does neither. Instead, she tries her utmost to communicate silently to Gabriel that he _is_ getting decked again if he screws this up, while also making eye contact with Anna long enough to let her know she isn’t looking to repeat that situation.

Jess frowns. “What did I miss?”

Sam starts a little and turns back to her. “Jess, this is Gabe. Gabe Milton.”

Jess’s eyes widen in surprise, which Jo doesn’t want to think too hard about.

Sam turns to her, fidgeting a little. “Uh, Gabe and I used to...”

“I already know what you used to,” Jo says, perhaps a little too loudly.

“Oh, trust me, you don’t know the _half_ of it.” Gabriel has made his way across the room, and Jo refuses to roll her eyes at that because it only seems to encourage him. Sam, on the other hand, looks like he would quite happily dig a hole to bury himself in.

“So, who’s the beautiful lady?” Gabe continues.

“Jessica Moore,” she introduces herself, holding out a hand. “I’m Sam’s girlfriend.”

“Enchanté.” Gabriel raises her hand to his lips and kisses it, which makes Jess smile.

Sam falters, glancing from Gabe to Jo and back again.

“And this is –”

“We’ve met,” Jo tells him.

“How could I ever forget the magnificent Jolene?” Gabriel agrees. He seems set on reaching for her hand too, but Jo folds her arms across her chest, and instead he takes a seat, prompting Sam to do the same.

“But...” Sam begins. “What are you _doing_ here? I thought you were leaving town.”

“I got a better offer,” Gabe says with a shrug.

Sam turns to Jo. “And you know him because...”

“He’s Anna’s brother.”

“Study buddy Anna?” Sam asks.

“The one and only.” Jo waves at her over at the counter, and Anna cautiously returns the gesture. Sam cranes his neck around to stare until Jo swats his arm and he remembers how to act civilised.

“I’ve heard stories about you,” Jess says to Gabriel.

“Only bad ones, I bet.”

“Wait,” Sam says, “So how do you know that Gabe and I –?”

“Dean remembered him,” Jo answers flatly.

Gabriel waggles his eyebrows, Sam blanches, and Jess bites her lip against a sudden giggle. Jo is left with three strong suspicions: that Dean’s anger was about something rather more specific than Gabe being Sam’s ex; that she is the only person around this table who doesn’t know what that was; and that she would much, much rather that it stayed that way.

“What do you guys want to drink?” she asks, getting to her feet.

“You really don’t have to...” Jess insists, half-rising as well.

Jo waves her back into her seat. “It’s fine. What are you having?”

She takes Sam and Jess’s orders – “Annie knows mine,” Gabe breezes – and retreats to the safety of the counter.

“I take it that’s Sam and Jess,” Anna says as she approaches.

“Got it in one.” Jo rattles off their order. “Please, save me from watching your brother flirt with Sam.”

As if on cue, a burst of laughter echoes from behind her. She raises her eyebrows pointedly.

“Just leave,” Anna suggests. “You were going to anyway.”

It’s a tempting idea, but Jo bristles at the thought of abandoning Jess to Gabriel’s mercy.

“No can do,” she tells Anna.

Her friend frowns. “It’s going to be a while. His shift doesn’t technically start for half an hour.”

“I’ll live.” Jo composes a carefully relaxed smile, and turns back to the table.

Jess is laughing into her hand while Gabriel and Sam talk, both gesturing expansively.

It’s going to be a long wait.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is throwing a New Year's party, and Anna has lost count of all the ways in which it could go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In order to actually pass my exams at the end of this year, I am dropping the update schedule down to every other Wednesday. This will last until at least July, but hopefully I will have built up a backlog again and I'll be able to update more frequently over the summer.

For the next couple of weeks, Jess and Sam stop by more often than not, getting reacquainted with Anna’s brother. In spite of Jo’s very vocal protestations, Gabriel’s flirting never moves beyond the level that, for him, counts as platonic. Jess and Sam are too obviously a couple. Even when they’re talking to someone else – be it Sam teasing Jo about some childhood anecdote, or quizzing Anna on the topic of her favourite childhood movies – they always seem to be aware of one another. They look happy together.

“Yes, but don’t they have anywhere else to be?” Jo takes to complaining under her breath. Anna smiles a little at that, but Jo never seems to notice the hypocrisy.

Christmas rushes past in a blur of fairy lights and gingerbread. Anna decides to stick to her strengths for presents; she presents Jo with a portrait of herself, this time of a decent size, while Gabriel receives a leather bracelet adorned with the decorative copper nameplate Anna produced in her recent metalworking workshop. In return, her brother gets her a new set of watercolour pencils she’s been wishing for since summer, and Jo presents her with a small ornament – a piece of carnelian carved into the shape of a bird in flight, which Anna leaves on her bedside table with a smile.

The peace and quiet barely lasts until lunchtime of the 26th.

“So,” Gabriel asks Sam and Jess when they come in. “You kids sticking around until New Year?”

“We should be...” Sam says, somewhat doubtfully.

“Great!” Gabe beams. “So you’re coming to the party.”

Jo, immediately behind them in line, rolls her eyes and walks to Anna’s side of the counter.

“Is he serious?” she asks.

“Probably,” Anna replies. “I presume you’re invited too.”

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Gabe leans across her to add. “Fun for the whole family.”

Jess looks thoughtful. “You know, I bet Dean would love to come along.”

Anna bites her lip, and she sees Jo and Sam exchange a loaded glance, but Gabriel nods.

“The more the merrier!”

 

“This is going to be a disaster.”

“You worry too much, Annie!”

They’re in the process of unloading more drinks and cheap snacks than Anna would have believed could fit in Gabe’s car. Anna doesn’t question it, even though she can count the number of guests she’s aware of on one hand.

“Any chance of the icing on the cake?” Gabe asks as they get the last load inside.

“This doesn’t seem like the kind of party for home baking.”

“It is if I want it to be!” he corrects her.

Anna considers it for a moment. “I have been meaning to try again with a touch less cocoa powder...”

Gabriel shoots her a look of sympathetic scepticism. Anna knows exactly what he’s thinking, probably because he’s said it a thousand times before.

“I’ll make a sponge too,” she adds, sharply.

Gabe throws his hands up. “Didn’t say a word, sis. Don’t send too many people to hospital, okay?”

She fixes him with a cool stare. She knows that Gabriel thinks she should give up on the chocolate cake recipe – she even understands why – but she knows that one day, she’ll get it right.

For once, Gabriel doesn’t say a word.

After a couple of seconds, Anna turns away, and goes to fetch some eggs.

 

By the time people start arriving that evening, there are two cakes taking pride of place on the snack table – surrounded by a steadily growing pile of alcohol. There are a lot of guests already, and Anna knows none of them. That’s hardly surprising, though, when Gabriel seems to have the knack of summoning new friends out of thin air.

Anna is just wandering in the direction of the hall to look for Jo when someone taps her on the shoulder.

“Hey, study buddy!”

She turns, and struggles to put a name to the face. The bartender from the Roadhouse... “Ash?”

He holds up a hand for a high five, which Anna takes to mean she remembered the name correctly.

“What’re you doing here?” he asks.

“It’s my brother’s party.”

The man next to him looks interested. “You’re Gabe’s sister?” He holds out a hand. “Hi, I’m Andy.”

“Anna,” she replies.

“Wait, wasn’t your brother the one who got K.O.’d?” Ash asks.

“He did?”

“Yeah, there was some bad blood between him and Winchester. Man, Dean’s cool, but sometimes...” He shakes his head.

Andy nods. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Anna frowns. She’s not really sure this conversation still involves her, but it’s not helping with the twist of doubt in her stomach.

“You said Sam was back in town though, right?” Andy continues.

“Yeah, he’s visiting from...” Ash trails off. “Speak of the Devil.”

Sam is ducking through the doorway, trailed by Jess, and Ash raises a hand to catch their attention. “Winchester!”

“Hey Ash! Andy, great to see you, man. I didn’t know you two were going to be here...”

Jo and Dean follow through the door just as Sam starts talking, both laden down with bottles, and Anna ducks away just in time to grab for a beer which is making a bid for freedom.

“Sorry about that,” Jo says with a smile.

“Come on,” Anna tells her. “We’ve got a table set up in the corner for drinks.”

Jo follows her over there, but once they arrive, she pauses. “Any chance of a cooler?”

“There’s space in the fridge,” Anna says, and Jo grabs the wayward beer and heads through to the kitchen. Dean makes a move to go after her, but she cuts him off with an “I’ve got it,” leaving them both in her wake.

Dean surveys the table. “Good haul.”

Anna is fairly sure this topic of conversation ranks barely above talking about the weather, but at least it isn’t “so, last time we met I punched your brother in the face.” She nods.

“Hey, is that cake?”

“Home-made.” The boast is automatic, a reflex from talking to customers, but she’s gratified to see Dean smile.

“Yeah, Jo said you leant her that pie recipe at Thanksgiving. Mind if I try a slice?”

“Go ahead.” It’s still early, and neither cake has been cut yet, but Anna doesn’t blink when Dean turns the knife on the chocolate. She might have had her trouble in the past, but this time she can feel that everything has gone right.

“You know, Jo’s always been a fan of your baking,” Dean says as he takes a piece. From the corner of her eye, Anna sees the girl in question return from the kitchen. “First time she ever met you, she told me I had to try your chocolate cake.”

Anna catches sight of Jo’s smirk, and in a moment her confidence sours and twists, and she knows what is going to happen the moment before it does.

“Son of a –”

Dean splutters, and Jo peals with laughter. Anna’s face is burning. She turns away even before she hears the doorbell ring, but she’s glad of the excuse to mutter as she leaves.

Breathe, she tells herself. You knew this would happen. You don’t _care_. She lets a hiss of air out through her teeth, opens the door, and smiles at Ruby and Meg.

“You made it!”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Ruby tells her.

“Loud music and free booze, what’s not to love?” Meg adds, with a sharp smile that makes Anna wonder for a moment whether or not she’s actually being sincere.

“Come on, Angel.” Ruby steps over the threshold. “Let’s show these losers what a real party looks like.”

 

While Ruby and Meg quickly establish a dance floor, Anna retreats back to the edge of the room to make small talk with those guests she recognises. By the time midnight is getting close, she’s relaxed and enjoying herself when she turns around and, for the first time all night, catches sight of Gabriel.

“Come on, fess up,” Jess is saying to him. “Sam was exaggerating, right?”

“Do you really think our Sammy is capable of telling a lie?” he replies.

“There is no way you – you asked him to _join_ _in_?” Jess can’t keep a grin off her face.

“Well, I didn’t know he’d react like – Annie!” Gabe beams at her. “Told you it wouldn’t be a disaster!”

“You know,” she says with her most disapproving expression, “when you said we needed to buy alcohol, I assumed it wasn’t BYOB.”

“And that, sis, is why you are not a party planner.” He sweeps a hand at the nearby drinks table. “We got a great haul, didn’t we?”

“Ringing in the New Year in style,” Jess agrees, taking another sip of her drink.

“Hey, Annie –”

“Jess, have you –”

Dean appears out of nowhere, and he and Gabriel both go still at the sight of each other. The pulse of the bass ripples across the silence between them.

“Gabriel,” Dean says after a moment.

“Hey Deano!”

Jess is giggling behind her cup, but Anna can’t see the humour in the situation. She feels frozen, waiting for everything to fall apart.

“You seen Sammy?” Dean asks quickly.

“You bet I have,” Gabe shoots back with a leer.

There’s a crackle of tension in the air, and it fizzes into Anna’s bloodstream and wraps her heart in wire. Her stomach turns, and she fights down the desire to settle it by downing a bottle of whatever drink looks strongest.

“Stop it!” Jess slaps Gabe playfully on the arm. “Check upstairs, Dean, he was headed for the bathroom.”

“Thanks.” Dean nods, and then he’s gone again, but Anna is still buzzing with anticipation of crisis. She feels like she’s trembling from head to toe.

“Hey, Annie, mind helping me fetch some more chips?” Gabe asks her, and she nods quickly, retreating into the relative quiet of the kitchen.

“Where are they?” she asks.

“I put them in the pantry,” Gabe says, following her. “Near the back.”

She steps inside, peering into the gloom. “I can’t see –”

The door shuts behind her.

“Gabe?” she calls, already knowing that it was no accident.

“Sorry Annie! You’ll thank me later.”

Anna takes a deep breath, and lets herself slide down the wall until she’s sitting on the floor. If this is Gabe’s idea of a prank, it’s not a very good one – she doesn’t mind the dark, or the solitude – and if, as seems more likely, he’s trying to keep her out of the way, she would probably prefer to avoid it, whatever _it_ turns out to be.

She feels the shake in her hands gradually fade away, and settles herself into wait in peace.

Until the door opens again, and she realises exactly what Gabe is thinking.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo gets stuck talking to Ruby, and then things progress.

Jo isn’t quite sure how she got into this situation, but she really wishes she hadn’t.

“So,” Ruby asks. “Has Angel got up the courage to ask you yet?”

Jo’s glad she has the ammo to wipe that knowing smirk off her face.

“You mean your whole ‘muse’ idea?” She shrugs. “Anna has drawn me plenty of times.”

“Oh, I know _that_.” Ruby’s smile only widens, and something in her tone sends a chill running down Jo’s spine.

“Then what did you -?”

“Jolene!”

Jo bites back the rest of the question at Gabriel’s appearance, gritting her teeth instead.

“There you are!” he continues. “Mind if I steal her away, Rubes?”

Jo doesn’t wait for Ruby to answer before moving after him. “What’s up?”

“Got some bottles to move,” Gabe answers. “I figured who better to ask than my favourite bartender?”

Jo’s enthusiasm wanes somewhat, but at least she isn’t trapped in a corner with Ruby any more. Of course, Gabriel’s logic is a little flawed considering how many people here have spent time on the Roadhouse’s payroll, but then, she isn’t sure Gabriel is familiar with actual human logic.

Gabe waves her towards the pantry, and she pulls the door open. She just has time to register a familiar pair of eyes, widening in surprise, when there’s a hand on the small of her back and she’s stumbling forwards.

The latch clicks shut behind her.

“Gabriel!” Jo turns, pounding on the door. “Let us out of here!”

There’s a rustling noise behind her, and suddenly Anna’s breath is on her neck.

Jo rattles the doorknob, but it doesn’t budge.

“He will have locked it,” Anna says quietly.

Jo throws herself at the door again, yelling: “When I get out of here, I’m going to shove your –”

 “It’s just a prank, Jo.” Anna speaks over her, unreasonably calm.

“- with a corkscrew!” Jo aims a rough kick which sends her stumbling backwards into Anna. She rights herself quickly, but Anna’s hand rests on her arm.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m locked in a closet!” Jo answers. Of course she isn’t okay.

“Breathe,” Anna tells her.

“I am breathing!” Jo snaps. She’s all too aware of the fact, the air in this musty cupboard tight and dragging in her chest, and she shakes away Anna’s touch. “What the hell is your brother doing?”

Jo hears Anna sigh. “He’ll let us out in a minute. This is just his idea of a joke.”

“Well his sense of humour freaking sucks,” Jo growls. She takes a step back, struck by how quiet is in here. The music, near deafening when she was in the next room, is barely audible. No chance that anyone’s going to hear her shouting.

 “He isn’t hurting anyone,” Anna says, with an edge of impatience in her voice.

In the gloom, Jo can just make out her silhouette against the shelves. They’re up against opposite walls, but she’s still close enough to hear each huff of air that passes her lips.

Jo forces a laugh. “Cause this is _such_ a walk in the park.”

There’s a sound of fabric scraping on itself which Jo suspects means Anna has just folded her arms. “I didn’t say it was a good idea. But since it appears to be happening to us, we are going to have to cope with it.”

Jo takes a moment to wonder when her heart beat got so loud.

“Well,” she says. “At least I know where you’ve been hiding all evening.”

There’s a rush of an exhale.

“I’ve only been here five minutes longer than you have,” Anna corrects.

“Oh.” Jo isn’t sure what to say. She thinks she’d rather go another round with Ruby’s eternal labyrinth of leading questions than spend another minute stuck here in the dark with Anna too close to let her think. “Good party, right?”

“I suppose,” Anna agrees, in a tone which heavily suggests disagreement.

“Not your scene?” Jo asks.

“My brother doesn’t always have the best taste in guests.”

Something in Jo boils over. “If you’ve got a problem with Dean...”

“Forgive me if his presence doesn’t put me in the party mood.”

“At least he’s not some psycho running around locking people in cupboards!”

“No, he’s just _violent_.” Anna takes a step forward, so close they’re almost touching. Jo has nowhere to go but forwards.

“Dean lost his temper _once_!”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Gabriel has _always_ been a creep!” Jo shouts over Anna. “Hanging around flirting with everyone who walks in, even though he’s thirty. I can’t stand having to put up with him every day just so I can see you!”

She shoves out, and Anna stumbles backwards.

The door cracks open.

Jo doesn’t hesitate. She pushes her way past Gabriel, through the partygoers and out onto the street. She’s at the end of the path before she registers the cheering coming from inside and realises what time it must be.

“Happy New Year,” she mutters to no-one at all.

 

Jo has a lot to be getting on with.

This side of the new year, the start of class seems a lot sooner than it did before, and she’s got a lot of reading to get done if she wants to keep her grades up to last term’s standards.

With the return of lectures looming, Sam and Jess’s visit comes to a close as well. They bid their farewells only a couple of days into January, although not before Jess has elicited a promise to keep in touch on Skype.

Once the two of them are on the road back to California, Jo realises that for the course of their visit, she’s been letting her work at the Roadhouse slide. Normally, she’d cover twice the number of shifts that she has over break, and she only has a week left to make up for that backlog.

Pulling shifts every night she can wrangle one might be exhausting, but Jo knows it’s worth it. She reminds herself that, every evening when she pockets her share of the tip jar – one day, she’s going to find something worth spending this on. Dean has the shop. Sam has Stanford. When Jo finds what she wants, she can’t rely on a free ride to get her there.

She’s got to be able to pay her own way.

And if, with all that on her plate, she doesn’t have time to stop for a coffee – well, that’s just how it goes.

She should probably be cutting back on the caffeine anyway.

 

The night before her return to college, Jo bargains with Ash for a shift which lasts until 1am. Dean smirks when he sees her behind the bar.

“Don’t you have class tomorrow?”

 She rolls her eyes and gets him a beer. “And you’ve got a shift at the shop. What’s the difference?”

Dean laughs. “For one thing, your boss is in that office, and mine is at the table in the corner.”

He glances pointedly over to where Bobby and Rufus are talking.

“You’re wrong,” Jo tells him. “She’s not in yet.”

Dean raises his eyebrows. “Should I clear out while I’ve still got the chance?”

“Wimp.” Jo can’t help but laugh. “Are you sticking around until my break? I could beat your ass at pool again...”

“You’re only asking me cause I’m the only one who’s still dumb enough to play you,” he points out.

“Even you won’t play me for stakes.” She sighs pointedly. “How’s a girl meant to make a living round here?”

That’s the moment when, as if in answer to her prayers, three boys walk in – only a couple of years older than her, and definitely not regular customers. She can’t keep the smile off her face.

Dean follows the direction of her gaze and smirks. “Guess I won’t be waiting around for that game after all. Don’t scare them off too bad.”

Jo ignores him, and strolls over to the fresh meat – uh, new customers.

“Hey boys. What can I get for you?”

 

It’s a good night. They lose the better part of fifty bucks to her in her break, and still laugh it off enough to leave a good tip.

Of course, Jo very nearly isn’t around to see it. As soon as Ellen gets in, she gets dragged into the office and chewed out for talking Ash into taking the evening off. It’s only because he isn’t answering his phone that Jo doesn’t find herself being sent home in disgrace.

Not that she would have gone. Jo Harvelle isn’t about to abandon a shift just because she might regret it the next morning.

She does, however, regret it the next morning. She oversleeps, and winds up running for the bus, grateful for once that the driver is always ten minutes after schedule.

She has no time to even consider stopping for coffee, and it isn’t until she’s already on board that it hits her just how badly she needs an espresso or twenty. She spends her first lecture of the term hidden in the back row, trying not to snore too loud.

It’s almost lunchtime before she manages to drag herself into something resembling alertness. She’s been looking forward to this class – Studies in Local History, taught by Professor Barnes. Pam has been a friend of the family for as long as Jo can remember, but she’s not expecting any favouritism – if anything, she’s going to need to be on her best behaviour.

Class ends without incident – “And remember kids, you need to start thinking about your independent study topics, I want titles in three weeks!” – and Jo is walking for the door when she hears someone say her name.

“That’s me.” She turns to see a tall blonde boy she vaguely recognises. “And you are?”

“It’s Adam – Adam Milligan? We took –”

“That Photography seminar last summer.” She remembers now –the pre-Med guy with the surprisingly artistic nature shots.

“Yeah.” He smiles back. “I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink sometime?”

Jo’s a little surprised by the offer, but Adam seems like a good guy. There’s no reason not to get to know him better.

“You got a place in mind?” she asks, mulling it over.

“There’s this one bar on third I’ve been meaning to...”

“The Roadhouse?” She can’t help but laugh.

“I take it that’s not a good idea?” He bites his lip, but doesn’t seem put off. “Somewhere else then.”

“My _mom_ runs the Roadhouse,” she explains, and he cracks a laugh of his own.

“Then _definitely_ somewhere else,” he repeats, and there’s just enough promise in that smile for Jo to hope that this boy might be able to keep up with her.

They’re the last two left in the classroom at this point, and Professor Barnes has been rearranging her papers for the last five minutes. Jo motions towards the door. “Let’s walk and talk, shall we?”

As she closes the door behind them, Pam winks at her and Jo can’t help but grin.

It seems things might finally be looking up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna deals with the aftermath of the New Year's party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two very important announcements at the end of this chapter.

Immediately after it happens, Anna goes to her room and locks the door. Downstairs, the party continues on without her, but when she turns out the lights the noise seems to fade as though it belongs to another world.

It takes her forever and no time at all to fall asleep.

 

The morning after, she is dressed to go out while Gabriel is still hunched bleary-eyed over a coffee. She pauses in the doorway and says, without turning: “That was not a good idea.”

His response is a quiet groan, and she walks out the door.

The town is eerily silent, although Anna isn’t sure if it’s the holiday still or the icy weather which is letting her footsteps echo on the sidewalk like she’s the lone survivor of some cataclysm. She knows that once she stops moving, she won’t have long before she’s forced to return home, but she’s in no hurry to start drawing.

Not until she finds a subject. Her eyes are skyward, but there is no sign of wings. Today it seems the birds have retreated to warmer climes, or else they too are sleeping in.

The trees are bare, and their branches stretch out across the sky like a supplication, but it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before.

She keeps walking, but even though she chooses her path at random, there is nothing here which she does not expect. In the last few years, she has come to know this town well, and while she can’t claim to know every street, it isn’t the sort of place you can get lost in.

Nothing catches her eye, and with her fingertips tingling in her pockets from loss of sensation, she turns back the way she came.

 

The next day, Jo doesn’t come into the cafe. When her shift ends, Anna wanders down to Lily Blade, and Ruby’s out the door before she even sits down.

“Happy New Year!” she calls. “Want to tell me where you were when it happened?”

“I left early.”

Anna is half-expecting Ruby to point out that since they were at her house, she didn’t exactly _leave_. But instead, she hears: “I don’t blame you.”

Anna glances at her friend, and Ruby notices. “ _Please_. It was a snoozefest, especially once you left. Gabe might have style by this town’s standards, but that’s not saying much. I think I’m starting to forget what fun _is_.”

Anna’s lips quirk at the sound of Ruby’s histrionic complaints. “But you stay here anyway. For Meg.”

At that, Ruby gives her a sharp look. “I stay for _me_. No-one stops me doing what I want, Angel. You know that.”

“Right.” Anna smiles just a little. “You must like it here.”

“Oh, it has it’s perks.” Ruby raises an eyebrow. “One of these days, I’ll even manage to drag you out to see some of them.”

“Is that so?”

“Cross my heart.” Ruby draws the shape with one finger over her breast, just catching the neck of her blouse.

Anna doesn’t know what to say to that, and in the moment where she hesitates, a passer by turns into the shop behind them.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Ruby says. “You going to be out here later?”

Anna shakes her head. She isn’t in the mood to sit around outside all afternoon, not when her muse seems so restless.

“Catch you tomorrow then, Angel.”

 

Jo isn’t there on the next day either, or on the third, although January 4th does bring with it someone unexpected.

“Dean?”

“The one and only.” He smiles like there’s nothing wrong with this picture. Perhaps on some level he’s right; new customers come in every day after all. But this is Dean, and that means this is very different.

“I didn’t know you drank coffee,” she says with a frown.

It’s only when he blinks at her that she realises how strange that sounded, but she doesn’t take it back. After a moment, Dean’s smile falters.

“Well, I do,” he replies. “The coffeepot in the break room finally gave up the ghost, and I figured it was about time I stopped by to check this place out.”

Anna doubts that it’s as simple as that. She watches him for a moment, trying to work out why he’s really here.

Dean takes a couple of steps back.

“Sorry, I should go.” He ducks his head, clearly embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have –”

“Wait.” The word slips out before she’s sure she means it, but when Dean meets her eyes with a look of confusion she feels guilty for being so rude.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome. I was just a little surprised.”

“I guess I should have expected that.” He smiles again, but it’s not as wide as it was before.

Anna remembers that she’s at work, and rests her hands on the edge of the counter. “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll get a bacon panini, a black coffee and –” He surveys the bakery case for a moment before his face lights up with genuine excitement. “Uh. And a slice of apple pie, please.”

It’s the pie she made yesterday, and Anna can’t help but be a little indulgent in the face of such eagerness directed at one of her creations. “Do you want me to heat that up for you? Or add cream?”

Dean swallows a little. “Yeah. Both. Please.”

She takes the slice over to the microwave before ringing it up for him, and she’d swear he watches it until the second it’s out of sight. She’s seen hungry customers before, but this is worse than the way Gabriel eyes the last cupcake.

By the time she’s made the rest of his order, the pie is ready to go, and she spoons out the cream before adding it to the tray. Dean takes a seat near the window, and Anna tries not to think that if Jo were here, they’d be close enough to tease each other across the tables.

Her shift continues as it always does – customers arrive and leave, there are coffees to make and tables to clear, and Dean sits in the corner, eating. She can’t stop herself from glancing over at him occasionally, although she does chastise herself for doing so. He came in to buy lunch, what does she expect him to be doing?

Even though there’s no good reason for it, she can’t stop herself from being a little wary of his presence. So when Dean approaches the counter again, she folds her arms across her chest, expecting the worst – even if she’s not sure what that entails.

“Did you make that pie yourself?” he asks, and she blinks. “I figure you made those cakes –”

“Yes. I did.”

“Well, it was awesome,” he says, with genuine feeling. Then his expression goes grim, and Anna knows what he’s about to say.

He’s trying to apologise. The problem is, she doesn’t want to hear it.

“We have fresh home-baked pies and cakes every day,” she says brightly, her best sales pitch. “If you enjoy them, you should come by more often.”

“Should I?”

She’d said it without thinking, but Dean’s question makes her consider it. She’s not going to forget what happened in a hurry, but the man she had imagined Dean to be was not the one stood in front of her now, trying to ask if being here was okay. This man was a stranger to her, for all that she had acted as though she knew him.

“Definitely,” she says, and means it.

“Maybe I will.” Dean starts to smile, then hesitates. “Uh, Gabriel -?”

“Works afternoons,” Anna reassures him, and the grin returns as he turns and heads for the door.

 

Jo doesn’t make an appearance for the rest of the week, or the start of the next one. Even when college classes begin again – a day heralded by a trio of book-laden, weary-eyed young men who clearly celebrated their last night of freedom a little too hard – she doesn’t appear in the cafe for her normal morning coffee. Anna can’t help but wonder how she ended her vacation – and if Jo, like those boys, was in need of a large espresso afterwards.

She tries not to think about it too often, though. She has a life to be getting on with. The morning shift keeps her occupied – Dean comes by for lunch for the third time – and it’s warmed up just enough that she can sit and draw outside Lily Blade without feeling like her fingers are about to fall off.

At the end of the day, she heads back to Heavenly to help Gabe clearing up. The sun has set already, but in the light of the street lamp she catches sight of the college bus arriving, and she automatically glances over the straggle of people getting off.

At first she doesn’t recognise anyone, and she’s starting to think that perhaps Jo didn’t have any classes on her timetable for today when suddenly, she sees her.

Jo is laughing, and Anna realises immediately that she hadn’t seen her because she’d expected Jo to be alone. But there’s someone with her, a tall stranger who knocks an elbow against her arm and says something which makes her beam up at him, bright and open and carefree.

She grabs him by the cuff of his shirt and leads him away.

“Earth to Annie, come in...” Anna starts as Gabriel taps her on the shoulder. “You still with me?”

She nods. “I’m a little tired. I should head home. Do you mind finishing up without me?”

“Trying to get out of helping?” Gabe raises an eyebrow. “You can head off if you want, but you might as well stick around half an hour and let me give you a lift.”

“No thanks,” she insists, getting her coat. “I’d prefer to walk.”

He shrugs. “See you later, then.”

The evening chill has descended quickly, but Anna hardly notices it. She walks fast, gritting her teeth against the wind, and finds herself at the front door almost too soon. The hallway is quiet and dark as peels off her coat and fumbles for the light switch.

She has no particular plans for this evening, but she wants to do something with her hands. Normally, she and Gabe make the specials for the next day later in the evening, but there’s nothing wrong with an early start.

She pulls her hair up into a ponytail, grabs the recipe book off the shelf, and gets to work.

 

She hears Gabriel’s key in the door a little while later.

“Honey, I’m home!” he calls before wondering through. “Baking already?” He peers at her mix, and pokes through the ingredients she hasn’t put away yet. “Lemon drizzle cake?”

 She nods. “I thought I could get it done early.”

“No complaints here. You want a hand with anything?”

 She shakes her head, and a few seconds later the television comes to life in the next room.

It’s not long before the mixture is ready. Anna pours it into the tin carefully before setting the timer on the oven for twenty minutes. Her job here is done, but she doesn’t want to stop yet.

She flicks through the recipe book, and comes to the page on cookies.

 

An hour later, Gabriel comes to stand in the doorway. The lemon drizzle cake is cooling on the rack, and there are two plates of cookies fresh from the oven, but Anna’s focussed on her bowl of cupcake mix.

“Hey, Annie.”

There’s nothing unusual about his tone, but somehow those two words send the panic she’s been biting back all evening clawing up her throat in a rush of bile.

Anna looks around the room with wide eyes, taking in the mess she’s made, the ingredients she’s burned through. _Wasted_. The two of them can’t eat this much, and business isn’t that fast. How much money is going to go stale in the jar because she couldn’t control herself?

She looks up at her brother, knowing she should explain herself, but instead the words that come out are: “It was a really bad idea, Gabriel.”

Once she’s said that much, it doesn’t seem worth stopping.

“What did you think was going to happen? Impromptu seven minutes in Heaven? Life doesn’t work that way. People aren’t happy to get locked in cupboards by virtual strangers. Did you really think that you could just leave us alone in there and everything would be fine? You walked away and we were _trapped_.”

She realises what she’s saying and forces herself silent, but it’s too late. The words are already out.

Gabriel is still in the doorway, still watching her with that half-smirk he wears almost constantly, and Anna knows she has gone too far. This is Gabriel’s house, his kitchen, his life. It isn’t really hers, it never has been. Now she feels it crumbling beneath her.

In her mind, she’s already out the door and halfway to Ruby’s couch before he says anything.

“I’m sorry.”

It’s the last thing she’s expecting to hear.

“I screwed things up for you and Jo, and it’s up to you to fix it.” For once, Gabriel’s expression is entirely serious. “I’m sorry, but I can’t change what I did.”

Anna nods, and bites her tongue, trying not to cry.

“You want some help with those cupcakes? At this point, it’s either them for dinner or take-out.”

Anna laughs wetly, and hides her face against her hand.

“Right. You in the mood for Indian?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Announcement 1: I'm very sorry to have to announce that Heavenly is going on hiatus for the next 10 weeks. I have important exams coming up that means I won't have time to write as much, and I've completely burned through all the backlog I had at the start of this project. I am **not** abandoning this fic - I am just taking a break from posting. The next update will be on June 19th.
> 
> Announcement 2: I am helping to raise money for AO3 by participating in a fanfic auction. I am offering one short (~3000 words) Supernatural fic based on the prompt of the winning bidder. If you have an idea for a prompt - which includes timestamps and/or sequels to Heavenly or any of my other fics - the bidding opens on April 15th at ao3auction.tumblr.com (but you don't need a Tumblr to participate).


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo and Adam get to know each other a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back from hiatus! Hopefully, I'll be back to a weekly update schedule, but I didn't get as much backlog ready as I'd hoped, so we'll have to wait and see how that pans out.
> 
> I now return you to your regularly scheduled mishaps.

Jo eats lunch with Adam that first day, and runs into him again after her last class. It’s natural to ask where he’s headed, and when it turns out to be only a couple of stops past her own on the localbus route, it seems obvious to suggest they ride together.

Adam is easy to talk to. Jo learns that he’s an only child, that he has three goldfish called Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan, and that, while she considers herself the picture of musical tolerance next to Dean ‘70s or bust’ Winchester, Jo hasn’t heard of a single one of his favourite bands.

 Then, once they’ve left the bus and they’re walking together across town to the second stop, Jo learns that his sleeves are soft, his hands are warm, and his phone number ends in a triple 3.

“So don’t try to tell me you’ve forgotten it,” he says, as his ride finally arrives.

Jo laughs, and the smile stays on her face the whole way home.

 

Jo finds herself spending more and more time with Adam. It’s a nice change to have someone she can grab lunch with when she’s stuck at college all day. She’s almost surprised when a few days later he asks her again about drinks.

“Sat good for you?” The text arrives late one evening.

“Not this 1.” It’s Dean’s birthday, and she’s already made plans to celebrate.

“Next week?”

“OK.” She’d normally have a shift, but Ash owes her plenty of trades. “U got a place in mind?”

“Wait and see.”

She’s curious, but she doesn’t ask again. She doesn’t know most of the bars near here anyway – she prefers to stick close to home. The only places she really goes are The Roadhouse and –

Well. It’s not like it’s coffee they’re going to be drinking.

The thing about Adam is that – bar names aside – he’s an open book. He’s answered all of Jo’s questions honestly, and he’s as comfortable admitting that his mom is single as he is talking about his favourite movie. Or wanting to spend time alone with Jo.

It’s refreshing.

 

When Dean texts Jo that Saturday telling her to meet him at the shop, she’s a little surprised.

“The old man couldn’t give you one day off for your birthday?” she calls from the doorway.

She rounds the corner, and knows what he’s going to say before he says it.

“She needed a tune-up.” He peers out from under the Impala’s hood. “Give me ten minutes to finish up?”

“Nah, I think I’d better go,” Jo says, sitting herself on the desk. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your date.”

“Don’t listen to her, baby. She’s just jealous of our love.”

It’s one of their oldest jokes, but it makes Jo laugh long and hard. When she’s done, Dean catches her eye.

“You’re in a good mood,” he observes. “You and Anna finally make up from that fight of yours?”

Jo clenches her jaw, her stomach dropping. “Who says we’re fighting?”

“I take it that’s a ‘no.’”

“Who _says_ –?”

“No-one said!” Dean insists. “I have eyes, you know. You’ve been working damn near every night since that vanishing act on New Year’s. You used to go into the cafe every day, and now Anna –”

“What’s she said?”

“I already told you, nothing.” Dean frowns. “But she’s been...”

“When were you talking to her?” Jo asks quickly.

“Can’t a guy get a coffee without the third degree?” Dean answers back. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you two –”

“Too right you don’t –”

“But she’s a nice girl, and you were getting on fine with her. You could do with having some friends your own age.”

A part of Jo is burning with rage, wanting to shout Anna’s words back in his face. Dean would change his tune quickly enough if he knew what she had said about him. Friends are all well and good, but family _matters_. The Winchesters helped teach her that.

But she bites her tongue. This isn’t the day to go picking fights.

“You sound like my mother,” she grumbles. “I’ve got friends my own age.”

“Name one?” Dean teases.

“His name’s Adam,” she says back, just to see him glower. “Ah, so I need more friends, but when it’s a _boy_ –”

“So _that’s_ why you’re in such a good mood,” he grouches. “Great, I really needed to hear about that.”

“Don’t worry Grandpa, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of dates on offer at the senior centre.”

He rolls his eyes. “You ready to go bowling?”

She pretends to think about it. “Depends. Are you ready to lose to a girl?”

“So you’ll call me an old man, but you’re not going to go easy on me?” Dean questions.

Jo laughs.

“Where would be the fun in that?”

 

The argument leaves a sour taste in Jo’s mouth, but she dismisses it fairly easily. Dean’s always been obnoxious about her spending time with guys, and his overprotective streak has only gotten worse since that mess with Cassie last year. “You should spend more time with your friends but don’t let it distract you from what’s important” is more or less Dean echoing the party line, and Jo’s been dealing with that paradox since she was fourteen.

As for the rest – well, Anna’s a grown woman. If she wants to apologise, she knows where she can find Jo.

Even if she didn’t, it seems she could just ask Dean.

But Anna makes no appearance, and Jo has bigger things to worry about. She has a date this weekend.

She’s still trying to wrap her head around the reality of that, the difference between going places with Adam and going _somewhere_ with Adam. The last few times boys have taken her out haven’t been much to write home about. At least this time, she already knows she can hold a conversation.

That only leaves everything else in doubt.

Still, she isn’t going to knot herself into a panic trying to work out what Adam’s expecting out of tonight. She’s Jo Harvelle. She’s going to pick out a nice top, do her hair, and rock his world.

It seems to do the trick. When she slides into the passenger seat of Adam’s mom’s car, he can’t seem to take his eyes off her.

“Hey,” she says in greeting.

“Hey, Jo. You look – great.”

She smiles. “You don’t polish up so bad yourself.”

She’s relieved to see that Adam’s outfit is also only a little smarter than what he’d wear every day. Since she still doesn’t know where they’re going, she was worried she might be underdressed. Which reminds her – “So, do I get to hear where we’re headed yet?”

Adam shakes his head with a smirk. “You’ll have to wait and see. Not long now.”

Jo had figured that, unless they were going to be driving all night. But instead, she buckles her seatbelt, and asks: “So, did you listen to that album I sent you?”

“Yeah,” he responds. “But I didn’t like it as much as their more recent stuff...”

And just like that, they’re talking, and everything is fine.

 

Jo doesn’t get nervous again until they finally get there, but Robin’s turns out to be nothing unfamiliar. It’s a little more crowded than the Roadhouse normally gets this early in the evening, but there’s a pool table in the corner and rock on the speakers. She tilts her head for a second to place it, then smiles. She’s always loved REO Speedwagon.

Adam looks a little smug. “Your kind of scene?”

“I don’t impress that easy,” she replies. “What else have you got?”

He grins. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

She laughs at the reference, and heads for a table in the corner.

“Don’t you want to order first?” Adam asks.

She smiles over her shoulder. “I thought you were buying.”

“Well, then what do you want?”

She raises an eyebrow, turns away, and goes to take a seat.

It might make a point, but she’s more than a little bored waiting for Adam to finish ordering. She tries to amuse herself by examining the décor, but low light and anonymous wallpaper don’t hold her attention for long.

“Hey, baby.”

The unwanted attention is almost a relief. She glances up at the stranger – he’s dark-haired and tanned, but not anything which would catch her eye. Probably shorter than Adam by a few inches, but bulkier – and by her reckoning, about half a decade older.

“Is this seat taken?”

She suppresses the urge to roll her eyes, and puts on her best apologetic smile. “I’m here with someone.”

“And he left you all alone?”

She wonders if this guy is reading from some kind of Creeper for Dummies handbook, and tries not to let her amusement show on her face.

“He’s a big boy,” she says with a smile. “I’m sure he’ll be alright without me. But thanks for your concern.”

The man blinks for a second, but seems to decide to ignore her and plough on. “If you were here with _me_ –”

“I’m sure we’d have a wonderful hypothetical evening,” Jo interrupts, catching sight of Adam walking towards them. “But it isn’t this one.”

“Come on, sweetheart, you don’t have to –”

“Sorry.” She flashes him her most winning smile. “But I have a little thing called self-respect.”

She lets her eyes fall onto Adam, hesitating just out of the guy’s peripheral vision. “There you are!”

“Everything alright here?” Adam asks, and the stranger finally decides to walk away.

“Fine!” Jo replies. “You didn’t feel the need to step in there?”

“Did you want me to?” he answers, and Jo shakes her head. She’d rather have handled that one herself. “I figured if you needed help, you’d ask for it.”

 He passes her a beer the same as his.

“Good choice,” she remarks. She’s not picky or she wouldn’t have left it to him, but she could do with a beer right now.

“What, you afraid I’d stick you with an appletini?”

Jo laughs as though she hadn’t been half-dreading something along those lines. She supposes Adam already knows her too well for that.

_“So, is today an espresso or a latte?”_

The memory strikes her out of nowhere – Anna still a stranger to her, but glowing like sunlight in the rainstorm. Everything had been so easy that day, for all that it didn’t last. She and Anna had clicked.

And then they had cracked.

But that’s nothing to do with Adam, and as Jo forces herself back to the present, she realises he’s been talking.

“What was that?” she asks.

“I said, I’m glad you’re having fun,” he repeats.

“Mhmm.” Jo nods in agreement. “Definitely.”

 

When Adam stops the car at the end of her road, Jo knows better than to get out straight away. She smiles at him, and ignores the faint unease which is rising between them again. This is always an adrenalin rush, but now they’re definitely on the same page. They just have to do what comes naturally.

“You know, Adam,” she says, dropping her voice a little. “You’ve just about managed to impress me.”

“Uh huh?” Adam asks, vaguely. He shifts a little in his seat, and he can’t seem to look at her, so Jo isn’t the only one with nerves. “You don’t sound very sure.”

She leans forwards, letting her eyelids drop. “Convince me.”

“Um.”

Jo blinks her eyes open again as a hand pushes back against her shoulder.

“Listen, Jo...” Adam says awkwardly. “When you said yes to this, did you actually _like_ me?”

Jo raises an eyebrow, but in spite of seeming well aware of how ridiculous that sounded, Adam doesn’t back down.

“I didn’t even know you!” Jo protests. She leans back out of Adam’s space, and folds her arms across her chest.

“And what about now?”

Jo glares at the roof of the car. This is off script, and she has no idea what to say.

“What do you think of me?”

“You’re pissing me off,” Jo snaps.

“Look,” Adam huffs. “All I’m asking is – do you actually _want_ to kiss me?”

What kind of question is that, Jo wants to know. She’s here, isn’t she?

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but –” Adam sighs. “You really don’t seem into it. You’re hot, but ‘distracted’ isn’t a turn on for me.”

Jo bites her lip.

“So if I’m imagining things, tell me, _please_ , but –”

“Sorry.” Jo says. Everything seems to have gone horribly wrong, but there are two things she’s sure of: “I’m sorry.” and “I don’t want to.”

Adam stares at her for a second. Then he laughs and shakes his head.

“Good, cause otherwise that would have been the most embarrassing bad date story _ever_ ,” he says.

“Yeah.” She cracks a smile. “Listen. Thanks for everything. I should go.”

She undoes her seatbelt, and grabs for the door handle.

“Jo,” Adam says. “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. See you in class on Monday?”

She nods, and opens the door.

“And –” Adam continues. “I hope whatever was so interesting inside your head keeps making you smile like that.”

She looks back in surprise. “Uh. Thank you.”

Adam’s smile is warm, but she turns and hurries down the road.

The sooner she leaves this night behind her, the better.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna decides that enough is enough.

“If you ask me, you’re better off without her.”

It’s been nearly three weeks since Anna last laid eyes on Jo, and she hates that even though Ruby’s been silent for ten minutes, watching her pin sparrows onto a page of her sketchbook, she knows exactly what she means.

“I guess that’s why you haven’t been asking.”

There’s really nothing Anna can say to that.

“Did I ever tell you the story of when Meg came back to the city?”

Anna frowns, wondering where this is going. “I was there when you got the phone call. You left in a hurry.”

Ruby snorts. “She called from the airport. We got into a screaming argument right in front of the check-in desk. I always said she was the ex from Hell.”

“And then two weeks later you were going away together.”

“Yeah.”

Anna glances sideways, expecting a smirk, but Ruby looks strangely thoughtful.

“Listen... we aren’t like you and Meg,” she hazards.

That makes Ruby smile. “Trust me, Angel, that much is obvious.”

Anna waits for her to get to the point.

“Turns out, Hell is everywhere.” Ruby arches an eyebrow. “Do what you have to. That’s all there is to it.”

Anna rolls her eyes.

“Think you know better?” Ruby questions.

“I think that’s easier said than done,” she remarks.

Ruby laughs. “Easy? Angel, I never said anything about that.”

 

Anna doesn’t give Ruby’s advice much credence, but the fact remains: this isn’t working for her.

Every time a customer walks through the door, she half-expects it to be Jo. When she sees long blonde hair on the street, she always looks twice. She’s been keeping herself up at night, thinking of all the things she should have said instead of what actually happened.

She had thought that a clean break was the best thing for it, but this is no clean break. It’s a lack of resolution. They are not over, and they will not be until one of them acts.

The difficulty is in knowing where to start.

The thought of it nags at her all through her shift the next morning, and when Gabriel arrives, he takes one look at her and shakes his head.

“You look exhausted, and it’s quiet. Take an early lunch.”

“My shift doesn’t end until –” she tries to protest.

“Boss’s orders, Annie!” He smiles, but there’s a crease of concern between his eyebrows. “Go take a nap, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.

She rolls her eyes. “Are you sure -?”

“ _Go_.”

 She holds up her hands in mock surrender, and goes into the back room to change out of her apron and grab her bag.

She isn’t sure where she’s going, but a nap isn’t what she needs. She needs closure. At this point, reconciliation seems unlikely – given how long they’ve been avoiding each other, perhaps it isn’t even a good idea – but they have to be able to work out something better than this.

She makes it halfway to the door before she’s distracted out of her thoughts by the sighs of Dean in the entranceway. He catches sight of her at the same moment, and she sees his eyes go to her bag, and then behind her, to where Gabriel is waiting at the counter. He blinks.

Anna wishes she could apologise for putting him in this position, but she doesn’t want to make this any more awkward than it already is. She can only nod at Dean as he passes, and reply with a “good morning” to his “hey.”

She glances back once he’s passed, and Gabriel’s eyes are on Dean. There’s a brightness in them which she recognises as forced, but his smile is as wide as ever.

She hesitates in the doorway, unwilling to leave earshot when the conversation is so likely to require intervention. Dean is quiet for a second, and then:

“Hey, man. Could I get a black coffee, a ham panini, and a slice of that pie?”

“Coming right up.”

The transaction is completed quickly and without incident.

“Have a good day, Winchester.”

“You too, Milton.”

Gabriel starts a little at that, and Anna sees a hint of genuine amusement begin to creep across his face. She can’t help but stare, at least until Gabe notices her dawdling and shoos her out the door.

She tries to adjust to Gabriel’s newfound ability to hold a civil conversation with Dean without it ending in disaster. It really shouldn’t surprise her. They’re both adults, and this is how they resolve their issues with maturity.

Something which she has been lacking in. She cannot avoid any further the thought she has been dodging all day: she already knows how to resolve things with Jo. They have to talk, face to face.

The conversation will undoubtedly be awkward, perhaps even painful, but it is necessary. She is the only one who can make this right again, it’s her responsibility to herself and to Jo.

Yet she’s still shying away from the idea, trying to find excuses not to go. She’s spent days trying to tell herself that it’s too uncertain, too rude, too difficult – any excuse to avoid facing the fact that she’s simply afraid.

Until today, Anna has never had a reason to think of herself a coward. It seems a shame to break that streak.

She turns towards the Roadhouse, and begins walking.

 

It’s when the bar is in sight that her resolve nearly breaks.

It had already occurred to her that Jo may not be at the Roadhouse – it’s a college day, after all. But her plan to wait it out is hampered by the realisation that Jo may have told her mother about their fight. What if Anna is no longer welcome here? What if she has come all this way only to be turned back?

She almost comes to a standstill, but she shakes it off. She is here now, and if this attempt fails, she can make another. As terrible as it may seem right now, she knows she’s done worse than this and walked away smiling.

She opens the door.

Jo is there. She’s stood behind the bar, leaning against the counter as her eyes scan across the page of a textbook. She doesn’t look up when the door opens, and Anna thinks for a second that this is her last chance to leave unnoticed.

She can’t imagine walking away.

She walks up to the bar slowly, taking a look around. The Roadhouse is all but empty, the jukebox easily louder than the few customers drinking this early in the afternoon. She waits until she’s sure she’s within earshot before speaking.

“Jo.”

Jo looks up sharply, and their eyes meet. When she sees Anna, her eyes widen in shock, and she takes a step back, but she doesn’t move to leave.

“Good book?” Anna asks.

“History project,” Jo responds. She folds her arms, but she still doesn’t speak.

Anna breathes in deep. It’s hard to think over the sound of her own heartbeat, so she doesn’t. She just tells the truth.

“I’m sorry.”

That’s it. It’s everything she’s wanted to say for weeks now, but she could say it a million times and it still wouldn’t be enough.

No wonder Jo doesn’t look impressed. She _needs_ to do better.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did about Dean.”

Her pulse is pacing, and there are so many words circling in her mind that it feels like they should rush out of her just to bleed off the pressure, but each syllable catches in her throat and it’s a fight to force it over her tongue.

“I didn’t know him, and now I do... I was wrong about him, and I’m sorry I said it. I won’t apologise for being wary of him, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I acted unreasonably.”

Jo is still watching her silently, but Anna finds that there is nothing more she has to say. Strange, that such a long silence was founded on so few words.

She feels calmer now. She’s laid her cards on the table. What happens next is out of her hands.

She looks at Jo with curiosity. She cannot read what the other girl might be thinking, but her silence is perfectly clear.

“Thank you for letting me speak,” Anna tells her, her heart sinking. She had not expected anything, she reminds herself. Having that expectation confirmed is difficult, but it is also freeing.

There is a lot more that Anna wants to say, but words have deserted her. She turns to leave.

“Goodbye, Jo.”

“Wait.”

Anna tries not to let her hopes rise up, but they soar out of her reach.

“Yes?” she asks, turning back.

“The way I remember it, you weren’t the only one who said some things that night.” Jo’s chin juts up as though she’s challenging Anna to contradict her. “You better not have come here looking for an apology.”

“I didn’t.”

“Good,” Jo reiterates. “Cause you’re not getting one.”

Anna doesn’t understand what Jo seems so angry about, or what she’s supposed to say. _You_ _were_ _scared_ , she thinks, _you_ _panicked_ _and_ _I_ _pushed_ _you_ – but Jo knows the truth of that better than she does. She’s used up the words she brought with her.

Anna holds Jo’s gaze, and tries not to treasure it.

 Jo deflates slightly. “Doesn’t mean I meant it all, though. Gabriel isn’t a creep. He might have bad taste in jokes, but there’s no crime in that.”

 That wasn’t what had bothered Anna, and she thinks Jo knows it, but she also feels the intent in those words. There’s something growing between them again where she thought the earth had been salted; Anna isn’t going to be the one to snap its stem.

She smiles.

“What are you drinking?” Jo asks suddenly. “I mean, if you don’t have a class or anything to get to –”

“Could I get a Coke?” Anna asks. “And maybe we could catch up?”

“Yeah,” Jo says, a smile creeping across her face. “I think we could do that.”

 

That evening, Anna walks back into Heavenly just as the sun kisses the horizon, staining the sky scarlet and gold.

She knows she’s smiling too hard, and Gabe notices as soon as she walks through the door.

“Nice nap?” he asks.

A laugh bubbles up inside her, and she doesn’t even try to stop it breaking free.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo agrees to something she shouldn't have.

Jo hadn’t been expecting this.

Anna had walked into the Roadhouse on the one afternoon a week she didn’t have class, and apologised. At first, it had felt like a trap – a trick to get her to admit she had been wrong, a chance for Dean to jump out and say “I told you so” – but Anna has never been anything less than genuine. She had been ready to leave without getting anything from Jo in return, and that was what made Jo see her visit for what it was – an olive branch.

After that, everything had been easier.

They had talked for most of the rest of Jo’s shift, conversation growing gradually less stilted. They’d gotten comfortable in one another’s space again.

Does that mean everything is back to normal? Jo can’t tell, but she decides that it at least means she can buy her coffee in Heavenly again without feeling awkward.

She wanders into the cafe the next morning and Anna _beams_ at her, and there’s nothing Jo can do but smile back with as much enthusiasm as she can muster on a grey February morning.

When Anna hands her the latte, her eyes find the orange star by reflex, and she almost laughs at herself, but she still raises the coffee to her face and makes her wish for tradition’s sake. There’s not much feeling in it – she’s warm, and there’s caffeine, and the way Anna is smiling at her makes it hard to want very much more.

When she opens her eyes, Anna says: “Have a good day.”

“I’m sure I will,” Jo replies. “See you tomorrow.”

 

By the time Saturday rolls around, it only feels natural for Jo to head down to Heavenly to work. She takes her usual table in the corner, and settles in with her textbooks. Falling back into the old routine is comfortable, and it helps her focus.

She’s just made a breakthrough on her project for Professor Barnes when she hears a familiar voice.

“Hey, look who finally pulled her head out of her ass!”

“You’d better not be thinking about my ass, Winchester,” she says, marking her place with a sticky note before looking up. “What are you doing here?”

“Eating.” Dean takes a seat at the next table, since hers is covered with notes. “What about you?”

“Studying,” she responds. “Since when did you –” Then she catches sight of what he’s carrying – a plate of pie. “You have an _addiction_.”

“If this is a problem, then I don’t want help,” he declares. “But come on. Did you and Anna make up, or what?”

Jo’s best glare does nothing to diminish his smug grin.

“We ran into each other and got talking,” she shrugs it off. “No big.”

He scoffs, and Jo can see the words ‘over a month’ written on his face, but while Dean’s sudden interest in her personal life might hold strong against the evil eye, it’s apparently no match for a hot slice of cherry pie. He starts eating, with enthusiasm.

“Get a room,” Jo mutters, and she turns to reread her article. It’s a promising lead, but she’ll have to cross-check it before chasing up...

 

“Hey.”

Anna’s voice is soft, almost teasing, but it’s enough to bring Jo out of the haze of dates she’s been lost in. When she looks around, Anna’s sat where Dean was a minute ago.

“Hey,” she says, rubbing her eyes. “What happened to Dean?”

“He left a while ago,” Anna tells her. “Before my shift ended.”

Jo cranes her neck to peer at the clock on the wall, and is surprised to find that afternoon has arrived without her noticing. “Shit. Sorry, I –” Her stomach chooses that moment to rumble loudly. “- lost track of time.”

“Fortunately for you, I didn’t. This -” she holds up a plate with a panini on - “is for you.”

Jo decides to leave her papers where they are, and slides into the seat opposite Anna.

“You are amazing,” she tells her. “I could kiss you right now.”

“Call it payback for all those free drinks,” Anna says. “I take it work’s going well?”

“Breakthrough,” Jo says through a mouthful. She knows it’s rude, but she’s too tired to worry about being proper – and besides, it’s not like Anna hasn’t seen Jo do worse. “Been stuck on this all week, but I just...” She coughs, waving a hand to illustrate her point.

“I didn’t get it so you could choke on it,” Anna tells her. “I’m not in any hurry, I’ll still be here when you’re done.”

“Sorry,” Jo says with a smile, and stops trying to talk in favour of inhaling the food in front of her as quickly as possible.

She’s almost done when Ruby drops into the third seat at the table.

“There you are, Angel. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Her eyes flicker over Jo in a way that makes it clear that while she might be aware of Jo’s presence, Ruby doesn’t think it merits verbal acknowledgement.

“You’re coming out with us next weekend,” Ruby tells Anna.

“Ruby,” Anna says, wearily. “I know you think –

“You need to blow off steam sometimes,” Ruby insists. “If you don’t want to be a third wheel, then bring someone along. I mean, you could even bring Jo here...”

She smirks at her own joke, and Jo’s fuse ignites.

“Why shouldn’t she?” she demands.

Ruby shrugs, as though it’s obvious.

“I didn’t think it would be your scene,” she says, and Jo can hear her real meaning: country girl doesn’t know what real fun looks like.

“Shows what you know,” Jo tells her. “I’m up for anything.”

Ruby raises her eyebrows. “Really? Then I guess I’ll be seeing you two Saturday.” Abruptly, she gets to her feet. “The more the merrier, after all.”

Jo watches her leave, her brief sense of victory sinking in her stomach. Anna’s look is sympathetic and knowing.

“Ruby has that effect on people,” she reassures Jo.

“What did I just sign up for?” Jo asks, already dreading the answer.

“Going out dancing with Ruby and Meg,” Anna tells her. “On Valentines Day.”

“Oh.”

 

It’s a terrible idea. Jo knows that, but she also knows she isn’t backing down unless she has a good excuse to give Ruby.

She would have one ready-made: work. Unfortunately, she traded that shift off to Ash already, and when she offers to take it back so he can have Valentine’s Day off –

“Nah,” he says. “Andy’s out of town so I got nothing better to do. You go out and party for the both of us, ‘kay?”

In short, she doesn’t have a way out.

At least Anna has reluctantly agreed to come with them – if only, in her words, “to prevent possible bloodshed.”

So, it could be worse.

Maybe that’s why she’s less nervous for this than she was for her date with Adam. Or perhaps it’s just that this time, she knows for _certain_ that she’s going to have a terrible evening.

Either way, she dresses ready for war – little black dress, hair done up, lipstick locked and loaded in her purse. Tonight, she’s not worried about going overboard. She wants to blow them all away.

When she heads downstairs to dig her heels out of the hall closet, her mom raises an eyebrow.

“Going somewhere special?” she asks.

“Out,” Jo says bluntly.

“With?” Ellen prods.

“Friends.”

“Watch your tone, Joanna Beth.” Her mom folds her arms. “I want a name.”

“Anna!” Jo answers, frustrated. “And a couple of other _girls_. And yes, I’ll be back before midnight, and no, I won’t consume any alcohol unless it’s on private property with adult supervision. Okay?”

“Well alright then,” Ellen answers, mollified. “You have fun now.”

Jo waits until her mom turns her back before rolling her eyes.

“Oh, and honey?” her mom adds as she walks away. “If you keep doing that, your face will stick that way.”

 Jo huffs, but there’s a honk of a horn outside, and she has to get moving.

When she slips into the backseat of the car, she can see that she definitely isn’t overdressed. Ruby and Meg are sat up front, both done up in leather jackets and low necklines, and Jo has to reluctantly admit that neither one looks exactly hideous.

But it’s Anna – here on sufferance, and if Jo had that excuse she wouldn’t be making half the effort she is – who takes her by surprise. She looks...

“Awesome.”

The word slips out by accident, but Ruby laughs from the front seat. “We always are. Come on, princess, we’ve got to hurry if we want to make your curfew.”

Jo shuts the door after her, and takes the chance for a second look at Anna. She’s wearing a pistachio green dress that leaves her shoulders bare under the loose copper curls of her hair. Jo suspects that on anyone else it would look old fashioned, with it’s A line skirt and the flowery lace decoration at the neckline, but it suits Anna, with all her poised reserve and sudden, glowing smiles.

“Cute dress,” Jo mutters to her over the sound of the engine, and receives just such a grin.

“Thanks,” Anna says back. “You too.”

In the rear view mirror, Meg rolls her eyes, but Jo decides to ignore her.

Might as well start the night as she means to carry on.

 

The bar is... not what Jo was expecting.

There’s a heart-shaped sign out front advertising for “ladies looking for love” and well. There don’t seem to be any _men_ taking them up on the offer.

On second thoughts, she kicks herself for not expecting this from _Ruby_ _and_ _Meg’s_ drinking venue of choice. Although frankly, she thought they’d have better taste.

At least she’ll be free of the hopeless any-girl-out-tonight-must-be-desperate creeper dudes who’ll be plaguing every other bar in town – even the Roadhouse. This might be her first February 14th in years without a guy hitting on her when she’s not interested, and that can only be a good thing.

“You planning on gawping all evening, or are you coming in?” Meg asks in her ear. “I promise, we don’t bite unless you ask nice.”

Jo shakes her off, and strides after Anna and Ruby.

The start of the evening turns out to be surprisingly uneventful. They get drinks – or at least, a Coke, because while she has an ID in her purse that will swear she’s twenty three, Anna is designated driver and Jo at least isn’t going to abandon her – and take one of the tables at the edge of the room.

Fortunately, Ruby seems to love the dance floor, and Meg is only too happy to drape herself all over her girlfriend in front of everyone. All Jo has to do is make conversation with Anna and try to ignore the display happening a few feet away. It’s hard to hear each other over the music, but Anna manages to make Jo forget her surroundings, and she almost starts to enjoy herself.

That is, until Ruby moves on to her next victim.

“Come on, Angel,” she says, tugging at Anna’s hand. “You’re meant to be having fun. _This_ –” She waves a hand in Jo’s general direction. “– doesn’t look like fun.”

“I’m fine here, Ruby, really –” Anna protests.

“One song,” Ruby insists. “That’s all I ask. You only have to have fun for three minutes.”

“Okay!” Anna laughs, and gets to her feet. “One song, and no more.”

Ruby leads her away, and Meg sits in her place. Jo wonders for a moment if she’s expected to make conversation, but Meg shows no interest in talking to her, so they sit in silence and watch the dancers.

Anna’s a good dancer – her feet follow the beat effortlessly. She’s clearly shy about it though, and Jo sees her head duck the first couple of times she catches someone looking at her, although after a minute she loosens up and seems to worry less about who’s watching. Her skirt swirls about her knees, and a laugh lights up her face.

The sight of her would be beautiful, if it weren’t for Ruby, hovering around her like a dark cloud of smoke.

Jo watches the two of them and tries not to fume as Ruby leads Anna by the hand, turning her this way and that like she’s some kind of living doll.

What’s the point of this? she thinks. Was this whole evening just Ruby’s excuse to show off how many people she can paw at publicly in the name of ‘having fun’? Anna deserves better.

Meg glances across at her, and smirks.

“Jealous?” she drawls.

Jo blinks, her face suddenly hot, and she jumps to her feet.

“Bathroom,” she snaps, as she gets out of there as quickly as possible.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna finds herself struggling with artist's block, until inspiration strikes.

After Anna gets off the dance floor with Ruby, Jo is strangely taciturn. At first, she thinks Meg must have said something which offended her, but Jo isn’t normally subtle with her grudges, and she doesn’t seem particularly angry. Anna decides not to press the issue, but nor does she want to ignore it completely. Once they’re back in the car – this time, with Ruby and Meg dozing in the back seat – she decides she’s waited long enough.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “You aren’t usually this quiet.”

Jo blinks at her, and it’s clear she was lost in her own thoughts.

“Sorry,” Jo says. “Just – got something on my mind...”

“Anything bad?” Anna asks. She knows Ruby must have had some reason for wanting Jo here tonight, and if Ruby had a plan, Meg will have known it. What she can’t understand is what the two of them were trying to achieve. Merely making Jo thoughtful isn’t significant enough to be Ruby’s endgame, not for such an elaborate plot.

Jo turns away from Anna. She seems to consider the question for a minute before answering, which probably isn’t a good sign.

“I don’t think so,” she says eventually. She still doesn’t sound sure.

“Anything I can help with?”

“No.” This time Jo’s response is more forceful, and she gives it without hesitation. “This is all me. Nothing for you to worry about.”

That doesn’t soothe all of Anna’s doubts, but she trusts Jo to know when she needs help.

In the rear view mirror, she catches sight of Ruby. She’s still slumped against the window, but her eyes are open. She’s awake.

She sees Anna watching her, and smiles.

 

 Anna decides to ignore Ruby’s machinations for the time being. Whether or not they worked – and, knowing Ruby, they most likely did – she has known Ruby for years. Anna trusts her intentions, if not always her judgement.

If whatever Ruby has done affects Anna directly, she’ll find out about it soon enough. In the meantime, she thinks she would rather not know.

She finds herself distracted soon enough. After months of struggling to pick up a pen, her hands have become suddenly restless. She’s itching with the urge to create.

Inspiration, however, is not known for coming when called.

“I’m not surprised,” Gabriel remarks when she mentions it one evening. “You could probably rebuild this town from scratch with the contents of your sketchbooks.”

“Where else am I meant to go?” she demands, walking back and forth across the kitchen.

“Anywhere!” Gabe shrugs. “When I was your age, I slept in a different state every night.”

She shakes her head. “We aren’t all cut out to couchsurf across the lower 48. I have responsibilities here. I’m not interested in jetting off by myself.”

“You could have fooled me.” He raises an eyebrow. “Sit down, would you? I’m exhausted just watching you.”

She drops into the seat opposite him, but she can’t keep from drumming her fingers against the table.

“Why didn’t I sign up for more classes this semester?” she asks no-one in particular.

Fortunately, Gabriel doesn’t try to answer. He just smiles, and says: “You’ll find something.”

Anna sighs. “I know. But I want something to do with my hands _now_.”

He laughs. “So, I take it you’re on cake duty tonight. Is it safe to go watch TV, or am I going to come back to find you’ve flooded the place in buttercream?”

She glares at him, which only sends him into fresh gales of laughter.

“I should make you take a turn,” she tells him. “You would deserve it.”

“You should, Annie, but you won’t.” He smiles smugly. “You know you would only be hurting yourself.”

“I hate you when you’re right,” she snaps, but she can’t put any real venom behind it and they both know it.

“I’m still your favourite,” Gabriel says, and she shoos him out of her way.

 

The next day, she comes up with a solution to her problem.

“What about here?”

Gabriel looks confused. He’s only just arrived for his shift, but Anna’s been waiting for the chance to share her idea for over an hour.

“My project,” she says. “Can I do it in here? It’s nearly three years since we decorated, a change of scenery would be –”

“Annie!” He holds up a hand. “I don’t hate the idea, but I need specifics. Are you saying you want me to close the place down, or...?”

“The back wall,” she explains. “We’d have to close off a couple of tables, but it’s quiet this time of year anyway. I can do the base coat this Sunday and work on the detailing in my free hours. It’ll be done within a month.”

“And what, dear sister, are you planning to paint?”

Anna smiles. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Gabriel laughs. “I suppose I’ll have to let you then, won’t I?”

“Precisely.”

 

Anna invites Jo to help her with the base coat, but she pleads work and declines. Instead, Gabe helps her spend the Sunday morning laying dustsheets over one corner of the room, and the afternoon painting over the constellations against the back wall of the seating area in wide stripes of the blue and brown base tones she’s bought.

By the end of the day, he’s asked her what it’s going to be thirteen times. He doesn’t take her up on her invitation to begin guessing, although he does make a few colourful suggestions of his own.

They leave the paint drying, and Anna has to come in early on the Monday to air out the fumes. While she’s at it, she uncovers all but the closest couple of tables, and ‘ropes off’ her work area to keep the customers clear. She has her paints in her bag, and she’s itching to get to work on it – but she has a shift to finish first. She forces herself to walk away, and starts laying out the day’s cake display instead.

It’s to no-one’s surprise, least of all Gabe’s, that she’s gone the moment her shift finishes, ducking under the barrier with her hair scraped back in a ponytail, ready to start the mural in earnest.

She uncaps the red paint, and gets to work.

 

A few hours later, she stops for a glass of water, and is surprised to discover that someone has attached a sign to the string around her work area: “Danger. Artist on a rampage.”

“Gabriel!”

“Just trying to give them fair warning, Annie!”

 

As the project progresses, Anna gradually becomes more aware of her surroundings as she’s working. It’s strange, being in the cafe in the afternoons. It’s hardly the first time – she’s covered Gabe’s shifts before when he was busy, ill, or, in one memorable instance, spectacularly hung over – but there is a whole new and unfamiliar crowd of customers for her to observe, and there are a few surprises.

Sheriff Mills, who is more often than not the first customer through the door in the morning, tends to drop by before closing for a chat with Gabriel as well. Linda Tran, who used to drop by for coffee dates with other housewives, is now an office manager, and grabs her cup on the way home from work. There are about half a dozen regulars that Anna has never even _met_ ; more often than not, they ogle at her in return, the strange paint-flecked girl set up shop in the corner.

But perhaps the strangest news of all is the discovery that Dean Winchester – who Anna sees perhaps one day in three – comes in for lunch almost daily. Which means that more often than not, it’s Gabriel who serves him.

The two of them seem friendly together, and Anna’s eyes are drawn to them without fail. At first, she’s still half-expecting an argument every time she sees them together. But after a week of watching them smile and make small talk, she can’t repress her curiosity any more, and when she sees Dean coming in, she makes sure to go and fix herself a drink where she can hear their conversation.

“Looking good, Winchester!” Gabe greet him.

“Not so bad yourself, Milton,” Dean says back without hesitation. “What time do you get off work?”

“You really think I’m that easy?” Gabe asks, and Dean raises an eyebrow at him.

“You don’t now the first thing about me,” Gabriel tells him.

“I could make a few informed guesses,” Dean says.

“Promises, promises.”

Anna rolls her eyes. Flirtation and drama; just an everyday conversation by Gabriel’s standards. She decides she’s heard enough, and moves to leave.

“Hey, Anna!” Dean straightens up when he notices her. “You still hard at work? It’s shaping up nice.”

Gabriel fixes him with a stare. “You know what it is?”

“Yeah,” Dean shrugs. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Anna shakes her head. “Not to Gabriel.”

Dean laughs.

“Come on, man, I’ll let you in on the secret.” He leans forwards eagerly, then whispers, just on the edge of hearing: “Work it out for yourself.”

“Hilarious,” Gabriel deadpans.

“You’ll get there soon enough,” Dean says. “Can’t rush art, right Anna?”

“That’s what I keep telling him,” Anna agrees.

“Remind me to spit in your coffee tomorrow,” Gabe mutters.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Dean says, cheerfully, and takes his order. “Good luck with figuring it out. Remember, you’ve got to look at the big picture.”

“My picture is always big, Winchester.”

Dean makes a point of stretching up to his full height, towering over both of them.

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” he smirks as he walks away.

Gabriel waits until Dean is out of earshot before commenting.

“Eavesdropping, Annie?” he asks without looking at her. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“It’s a good thing they have nine lives, then,” she says, returning to her work.

“What _is_ it?” Gabe calls after her as she walks around the corner.

She shakes her head.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

 

It takes another week before Gabriel finally works it out. She can see it in his eyes when he does, the look of sudden realisation as the shapes of orange and green and grey resolve into a complete picture.

“Do you see it?” she asks.

“You could have just _said_ ,” he complains. “I guess you’re going to say this is my fault?”

“You _were_ talking about travelling,” she tells him.

Then she turns back to add another cloud to the cafe’s latest mural – heaven for some, if not her.

An open road at sunrise.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo reconsiders her feelings about Anna.

Jo _never_ expected this.

Anna is great. She’s funny, she’s smart, she’s beautiful. Jo’s known all of that for a long time. And yeah, Jo cares about her. They’re friends!

Except.

What Meg said keeps circling in her ears. It’s not even the words themselves – plenty of people get jealous about a friend spending time with someone else. But that isn’t what Meg meant to imply.

It isn’t what’s happening here.

She tries to get the idea out of her head, to think of _any_ _other_ _explanation_ , but it all feels like a lie. She has to be honest with herself.

It would be easier to be honest if she knew what the truth was.

She thinks about Anna a lot. That’s been true for a while, and Jo fights back the reflex to think ‘but that’s normal’ because she knows damn well that _everything_ is normal and she isn’t going to keep finding excuses to ignore this. She thinks about Anna an awful lot, and she’s happier when Anna’s around.

How she feels about Anna isn’t the same as how she feels about anyone else. It’s definitely not how things felt with the guys she’s dated, that rush of adrenaline and fear that comes from getting close to a near stranger. But then, Anna isn’t a stranger – she’s a friend. Jo’s been out with plenty of guys, but not one of them was a friend to her first.

Well, Adam came close. But then again –

“Do you actually _want_ to kiss me?”

So, she’s never been that close to a guy she’s with. But this thing with Anna sure isn’t like her kiddie-crush on Dean either, all that wide-eyed admiration and not a thought for his faults. She knows plenty of Anna’s flaws. And unlike Dean when she’d first known him, Anna is all too happy to pay Jo some mind.

 But all this isn’t saying much. Jo’s never had much chance to get attached to someone like _that_ , but that doesn’t mean she’s never been attached. She could say just as much about Ash or Sam or the Dean she knows now, and if Meg made that quip about any of them, she’d have laughed it off in a moment.

She knows what the difference is.

It’s not like she’s never considered it before – it was hard not to, especially with Sam and all. The hypothetical never caught her interest – the thought of some nameless, faceless girl didn’t ever seem relevant to her.

Anna is far from faceless.

It’s not like Jo is new to the thought of sex. She’s had her hand down a few guys’ pants in her time. A couple have even returned the favour. It’s not like any of it was any _hardship_ , even if it never felt as life-shattering as the movies make it out to be.

But when Jo tries to picture herself with Anna in that situation, her imagination fails her completely. She’s almost relieved. She’s not sure she’d be able to look her friend in the eye if she’d been thinking about...

She’s not even certain what it is two girls normally _do_ together. She’s never bothered to find out before. Any other day, she would have searched it and damned the consequences, but now she isn’t sure she wants to know.

She tries her mind’s eye again, aiming for something simpler: a kiss. It still feels strange, thinking about Anna like that, but she tries her best. It doesn’t feel right, not like something Anna would ever really do. Even in her imagination, Jo is almost nauseous with nerves.

Butterflies in her stomach. Isn’t that what’s _meant_ to happen?

The imagined scenario raises another question: would Anna want to kiss her back? A part of her feels like that doesn’t really matter, but another part thinks it’s the most important question of all.

It doesn’t seem likely. They’ve known each other for months; if Anna was interested, there’s been plenty of time for her to say something.

But then, the same is true of Jo, and look where she is now.

She wonders if she should just say something – throw it out there and see what happens. The idea is liberating... and paralysing. _Anything_ could happen. She could end a great friendship over something which turns out to be a passing notion.

What if Anna said yes? How would Jo explain to her family – to her mom – that she was dating someone who _wasn’t_ –

The thought terrifies her. She regrets ever having made fun of Sam for making a big deal over telling them he liked guys. The whole sit-down family gathering had seemed excessive at the time – Ellen, Bobby and Dean had all been fine with it, and why wouldn’t they be?

Now she can think of a thousand reasons why the same might not be true for her. What if it’s different because she’s a girl, or because she’s a Harvelle not a Winchester, or because she’s old enough that she should have known...

It seems cruel to even think of her mom saying something like that, but she wouldn’t be the first, would she?

Jo’s getting ahead of herself, though. She can still hardly believe she likes Anna like that, let alone that this might be a recurring... thing. What’s the point in worrying everyone about something which may never happen again?

Is it even happening _now_? What if she’s getting all riled up over a late night and a pretty smile, but tomorrow she’s forgotten the whole thing? It could all be in her head.

But if this is all her imagination running wild with her, then why can’t she let it go?

 

Jo decides to sleep on it before saying anything. That’s more difficult that it sounds. She knows she’s looking at Anna differently, sneaking sidelong glances as she tries to work out whether or not this feels different.

It doesn’t, but she thinks that might be half the problem. This isn’t about tonight; it’s making her question every moment they’ve ever spent together.

It’s not surprising that Anna notices Jo acting strange. When she asks whether it’s something _bad_ , Jo honestly doesn’t know how to answer. “Not much, but I may never look at you the same again.”

She barely says anything for the rest of the drive.

 

Sleeping on it doesn’t help.

Nothing is any clearer, and none of it’s gone away either. There’s a tangled mess of thoughts in her head, as accusatory as an untidied floor and three times as likely to trip her up.

She feels like it’s written all over her face whenever she talks to anyone, but most especially around Anna. How can you fail to notice that someone is driving themselves to distraction over you? She’s embarrassed to stand too close.

Then again, if her thoughts were that obvious, it would save her the hassle of having to tell anybody.

She tries her hardest to act normal, to make like nothing is happening until she’s decided what she wants. But when Anna asks her to hang out, alone, she panics.

Her excuse is school work. It isn’t a lie – Professor Barnes’s project is coming due soon, and there’s a lot to be done on it.

Jo spends most of the weekend on it, and makes good progress. Anything which takes her out of her thoughts is welcome at the moment, even the dull slog of tracking down property purchase histories. Her bright idea of the other week is a good start, but it’s going to take hours of research, and a fair bit of wrangling over the phone before she manages to get results.

It’s exhausting, but she knows it’s going to pay off. Jo wants this project to be good – more than good, she wants it to be _great_. It isn’t because of Pam any more, or because she’s trying to avoid anything. She feels that with all the research she’s already done and all the fascinating discoveries she’s made, this report is due the best finish she can give it.

She gets wrapped up in the work, chasing down potential leads for hours, until she’s too exhausted to stand, let alone think.

Then, a couple of weeks later, it all comes through, and she runs headfirst into a new problem. She’s got an in, but only if she can find someone to go with her. And there’s one obvious name jumps to mind.

She dismisses all the alternatives quickly – Ash and Ellen will be busy, and even Dean has good reasons to turn her down. She briefly considers Adam, but he’s _competing_ with her on this report. Besides, they’ve barely spoken since their date that wasn’t.

No, it has to be Anna. There’s no-one else, at this short a notice.

So, what’s her play?

She hates that she’s been reduced to this, cringing at the thought of spending time with her friend. Dammit, she’s always felt this way about Anna, whatever it is. Why should she let these feelings stop her _now_ , when she’s already invested so much time and effort in this report?

 She isn’t going to let it.

The decision comes easily, once she realises that. She can’t get to the bottom of this if she keeps avoiding the issue. She has to face it, head on, and stare it down.

She knows how to be a friend to Anna. If an opportunity arises then well, she wouldn’t pass it up. But she isn’t going to push her luck yet, not when she’s not sure what she’s pushing for.

She hasn’t been the best friend lately, and she knows Anna deserves better. Perhaps this is her chance to start making up for that.

Jo is beginning to form a plan.

 

She makes a special trip to the cafe that afternoon. The project deadline is approaching and she doesn’t have time to spare; if Anna can’t make it, she needs to find someone else fast.

Anna’s mural is taking shape before her eyes, a little clearer every time she visits. The vague, featureless landscape she had once only been able to make out by squinting has morphed into a broad strip of tarmac across the desert sands, and the dark expanse of sky has brightened into a brilliant sunset.

It seems close to being complete.

“Looking good!” Jo says, and Anna turns to greet her with a smile. Her painting shirt is smudged in every colour of the rainbow, and today she has a smear of green streaked over one eyebrow.

It’s... she’s... cute.

“I was wondering,” Jo says, her confidence taking root with every word. “Are you afraid of ghosts?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note from your author: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has put nice comments in the reblogs of the new chapter Tumblr posts. I read all of them, even though I don't normally respond.
> 
> If you ever want to talk to me about Heavenly or anything else, you are welcome to leave me a comment here! You could also send me an ask or tag a post with my url to get my attention. I am always happy to hear from people, I just don't feel comfortable responding to things which weren't addressed to me directly.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna and Jo visit a haunted house.

Anna blinks.

“I’ve never really thought about it,” she tells Jo. The supernatural isn’t something she’s ever cared to dwell on. “Why? Do you know any?”

“Maybe,” Jo says with a smirk. “Are you scared?”

Anna takes a moment to really consider it. “I don’t know. Can they hurt me?”

Jo freezes for a second, her enthusiasm melting into a thoughtful look.

“Probably,” she decides. “They’d hardly be real if they couldn’t.”

“Then it’s reasonable to be afraid of them,” Anna concludes. “So, where are these hypothetical spirits of yours?”

“That’s the thing,” Jo says. “I finally tracked down the owner of the building I’ve been researching –”

Anna vaguely remembers Jo telling her about this project, but she can’t recall most of the details. She feels bad for getting so caught up in her work on the mural; she has a tendency to start ignoring everyone when she’s in the middle of something big.

“And got permission to go there this Saturday.” Jo smiles. “Collect data, take photos... it’s abandoned, so I have the place to myself, and I have twenty four hours to get what I need.”

Anna raises her eyebrows. “And this building is haunted?”

“So legend has it,” Jo grins. “You up for it?”

Anna is confused for a moment. “What?”

Jo frowns. “You are up for it, right? I can’t go in unless I have backup...”

“You want me to spend the night with you in a haunted house?” Anna asks, somewhat astounded.

“Well, yeah.” Jo seems unperturbed.

 Anna laughs. “Then of course I’m coming.”

“Great!” Jo says. “How are you doing?”

“Nearly done,” Anna says.

It takes her a second to realise that Jo might have meant her _self_ , not her project. Perhaps it’s a good thing this project is winding to a close.

“I can see that.” Jo considers the wall in front of her. Her gaze is critical, but she’s clearly impressed. “What made you think of a sunset?”

“Sunrise,” Anna corrects reflexively, although she supposes the difference between the two is almost nonexistent in this case. “I don’t know. Inspiration doesn’t really work like that, at least for me. I don’t feel like I thought of it, I feel like the thought dragged me along for the ride.”

Jo’s lip quirks. “Yeah, I kinda know how that one feels.”

“The road is Gabe’s fault, though,” Anna adds. “He made me think about travelling.”

“Oh?” Jo asks, clearly surprised. “You going somewhere?”

Something about the way she says it gives Anna pause. She still doesn’t intend to leave, but for a fraction of a second, the possibility seems strangely real.

She shakes it off with a laugh. “And leave Dean without his pie? I wouldn’t make it five miles.”

Jo snorts, and Anna’s uneasy feeling passes as quickly as it came.

“So, we’re good for Saturday afternoon?” Jo confirms. “You might have to take a break from painting.”

“Or finish fast,” Anna counters with a smile. “Yes, I’ll be there. Ghosts or not.”

Jo beams at her. “Ghosts don’t stand a chance against us.”

 

Gabriel laughs when she tells him.

“A haunted house?” he asks. “You really believe that?”

She glares at him.

“It doesn’t matter whether I believe it or not,” she says. “It’s interesting. And at the very least, I should be able to take some unique photographs. I’m going, Gabriel.”

“Never said you weren’t!” he insists. “How late do you reckon you’ll be back?”

Anna frowns. Jo hadn’t mentioned that.

“Late,” she says, vaguely. “Definitely not until after dark.”

“Spooky.” Gabe smirks. “Hey, Deano! Do you believe in ghosts?”

Dean looks taken aback. “Why?”

“Jo and Annie are off to visit a haunted house.”

Dean’s brow furrows. “Really? I wouldn’t have thought –”

“It’s for one of Jo’s classes,” Anna explains. “She’s doing a local history project on the building, and she’s persuaded the owner to let her borrow a key.”

Dean’s frown lessens slightly, but it’s still not completely gone. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

Gabe snorts. “Even if you really think this place is haunted, a ghost would take one look at Jo and run the other direction.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Dean says, a little sharply. “The two of you out in the middle of nowhere at night. You sure the place isn’t going to fall down around your ears?”

“It’s stable,” Anna reassures him. “They keep it maintained, even if no-one uses it any more.”

Dean nods gravely.

“It’s just to take photographs,” she promises. “We won’t be in any danger.”

Somehow, he still doesn’t look convinced.

“Maybe you should go with them,” Gabriel suggests. “I’d like to see the ghost that could take you in a fight.”

Dean shakes his head. “No, they won’t want me hanging around. I’ll leave you girls to it – but if you run into Casper, make sure you get his good side.”

In any other situation, Anna would feel like that was an invitation to contradict him and insist he come, but Dean’s words sound final. Besides, if Jo wanted him to come, surely she would have asked him already?

“Come on, Winchester,” Gabe needles. “You never answered the question. Do you really believe in this rubbish?”

“I take it you don’t?”

Gabriel gets a hard glint in his eyes, and Anna knows what’s coming. She resists the urge to roll her eyes pre-emptively.

“The imprints of departed human souls?” He laughs sarcastically, the sound of it hollow and thin. “Humans don’t have _souls_. Ghosts, Heaven, Hell, God – it’s all pretty lies that our little monkey brains made up to help us sleep at night. Once you’re dead, you’re dead, and the only place you’re going is in the ground.”

Dean grits his teeth, and Anna’s blood chills in her veins.

He looks Gabriel up and down for a second.

“That’s what you think?” He smirks, but there’s no smile in his eyes. “See, if there’s a God, he’s an asshole. But people, man. People are special. You can’t deny that.”

He turns and walks away. Gabriel opens his mouth to call after him, but Anna stares at him until he pauses.

“What?” he demands.

“People are entitled to their beliefs,” she reminds him. “And to having a cup of coffee without needing to defend their intellectual rigour in the process.”

Gabriel sighs pointedly.

“I know that the world has its priorities all wrong,” Anna says soothingly, and Gabe’s lip twitches just a little. “But debating every customer who walks in is not the answer. You’ll scare them all off.”

“I’ll limit myself to one or two,” he promises, his mouth stretching into a grin. “The worst ones.”

Anna smiles back, and quietly hopes that he isn’t being serious.

 

They arrive at the house late in the afternoon.

Before heading out of town, they both had to sign several forms promising not to cause any damage to the property, and acknowledging that any injury caused was entirely their own fault. That, and the long drive out of town, fill several hours after Jo first picks Anna up in her mom’s truck, borrowed for the night.

 Anna is buzzing with energy before they’ve even unlocked the gate in the chain-link fence which surrounds the place. But the first sight of the house itself takes her breath away.

It towers up to three storeys in height, a dark blot against the bright afternoon sky. Any ghost that to walk the earth could hardly choose a better place for it – with its glowering silhouette, and its shuttered windows clogged with cobwebs, it looks like the set of a horror movie.

But what surprises Anna is how intricate the design is – almost fragile. It looks like a portal into another world, a relic left over from a black and white photograph. It’s from another time, and Anna feels like it should fade out of existence before they are close enough to capture its detail in the modern age.

“How old did you say this place was again?” she asks.

“A hundred and seventeen years,” Jo announces. “It was built right at the tail end of the nineteenth century.”

Even though the day is mild, Anna shivers. The weight of history clings to this place like a cloak of power. She feels like she’s intruding on something sacred.

Jo, who clearly isn’t affected by this concern, strides forwards.

“Come on! There’s a lot I want to look at before it gets dark.”

She puts one foot on the porch steps, and it breaks the spell. This house might be old and echoing, but Jo is bright and loud and at home wherever she finds herself. Her presence drags the building back into the twenty first century, and with it, Anna’s thoughts.

She hurries to catch up.

 

Their entrance disturbs a thick layer of dust, which dances in the soft beams of sunlight that scatter through the cracked wooden shutters. Whoever left this place, all those years ago, did not take anything with them. There is still a table set out in the front room, with four chairs around and a candlestick in the centre – and against the wall a dresser, and photo frames clouded over with grime.

For a moment, their breathing echoes in the dark hallway. Then Anna and Jo both fumble for their cameras.

They move through the house carefully, but quickly, eager to capture the light. While they’ve been assured that the beams are solid, Anna can’t help but tread lightly through the musty rooms. Even so, they cut a trail of footprints in the dust wherever they walk, their intrusion tracing out a jagged scar across the floorboards which can only be healed with time.

Jo recites history as they walk.

“This place was a hotel for a while, I guess this was the dining room, I bet that exposed beam is where they knocked down a wall to make it big enough...”

“This staircase would have been for servants, that’s why it’s so narrow, not like the posh one out front for the family and their guests...”

“There was a time when two different families were renting out different parts of the house, I guess it’s a good thing there are so many bathrooms...”

“Someone died here.”

Anna freezes in the doorway. They’ve just walked into one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Jo doesn’t seem concerned by the news, but Anna frowns.

“They were murdered, actually,” Jo corrects herself. “In the front right bedroom. That’s this one, right?”

“One of the ghosts?” Anna asks.

“I guess so,” Jo says, thoughtfully. “Landon Taylor. He was a guest in the hotel, in the early fifties. Someone broke into his room and shot him. The maid found him the next morning. They never officially caught who did it, but one of the reports said that he owed money in the city and he only came through here on his way out of the country. Hang on –”

She rummages in her bag for a moment.

“Here,” she says. “This is him.”

Anna looks at the photograph, a grainy photocopy of a faded black and white newspaper article, creased where it has been folded in Jo’s notes. The man in the picture is young, but the picture is so obviously _old_ , from the faded yellow of the paper to the way Landon is dressed, a smart suit and a fedora out of place with his easy grin as he leans back against a wall.

“How old was he?” Anna is suddenly curious.

“Twenty eight,” Jo answers. Not much older than when this picture was taken; not even as old as Gabriel is now. It’s strange to think about it. Looking at this picture, it’s not hard to imagine that the man might be dead now – if Landon Taylor had survived, he would be old today, perhaps in his nineties. It’s hard to reconcile that reaching arc of _potential_ with the truth: the story ended almost immediately. No resolution, just The End.

In this room, a man not much older than Anna is took his last breath.

She wonders who he was smiling at.

 

They take a lot of pictures before it’s too dark to see properly any more, and then a few more by torchlight, but before long, Anna’s stomach is rumbling.

“Are we going to head back soon?” she asks.

“Actually,” Jo says. “If you don’t mind... I was hoping to take some video. After midnight.”

Anna tilts her head. “How are we going to...”

“I have food in the truck,” Jo says, enticingly. “And sleeping bags. I figured we could –”

“Spend the night?” Anna completes for her.

“If you’re okay with that,” Jo confirms.

Anna considers it. This house is labyrinthine, echoing and stained with the blood of strangers.

It’s also the most beautiful place Anna has ever been.

“Where do you want to set up camp?”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo and Anna tell some ghost stories.

They grab some supplies, and Jo leads the way around the back of the house, to where there’s a charred patch of earth just right for a campfire.

Anna frowns. “How did you know this was here?”

“I’ve been out here before,” Jo admits. “A long time ago. And I didn’t exactly have a key.”

Anna raises an eyebrow. “That sounds like a story.”

“Not much to tell,” Jo shrugs it off. “Dean and Sam used to sneak out here, probably started long before they knew me. One day I stowed away in the back seat.”

Anna laughs. “How old were you?”

“Twelve, maybe thirteen?” Jo says. “I remember I still thought I was being _so_ rebellious going out after dark. It was a couple of years after I first met them, but it must have been before Dean graduated.”

Anna makes a surprised noise.

“What?” Jo prompts.

“I thought you’d known each other longer than that,” she says. “You act like you’ve been friends with him forever. I’d been imagining you still in pigtails, following Dean around on your bikes.”

Jo chuckles. “Nah, I didn’t know the Winchesters growing up. They started coming over about the same time I started middle school, not long after they first moved in with Bobby. Probably ‘cause he had no idea what to do with a couple of kids and my mom took pity on him.”

 Anna looks up from the heap of firewood. “Why were they moving in with Bobby?”

Jo’s words die in her throat. She hates talking about this – it feels like telling her friends’ secrets, even if it’s common knowledge in town what happened to John and Mary Winchester.

“Oh.” Anna catches sight of her expression and looks down. “Sorry, I suppose that should have been obvious.”

Jo half-smiles. “Not your fault you didn’t know. But it’s not really my story to tell, you know?”

“Yeah,” Anna says, and they leave it at that.

 

They roast marshmallows.

Jo brought real food as well, and they need plenty of it – the night is cold, and their tent doesn’t provide much in the way of shelter. But this is the first campfire she’s been to in years, so she skewers marshmallows on a stick and watches the flames dance around them until the sugar bubbles and melts at the edge of the wood.

 Beside her, Anna shivers and presses herself against Jo’s side. The marshmallow she’s holding touches briefly against Jo’s, leaving a stringy trail of goo between them.

“You know,” Anna says, her eyes on the fire. “I never would have thought of coming out here. Even if I had a project to do, and I knew it was here – I never did anything like this for history class.”

Jo smiles without turning her head. “I’ve never done history like this before either. But I came across that clipping about the murder and it gave me the idea. Dean used to tell me and Sam ghost stories when we came out here, but I never knew any of it was real.”

“Did Dean really tell you stories about Landon Taylor?” Anna asks, quietly.

“Well...” Jo smiles. “The first time I came out here he mostly yelled at me about scaring him shitless while he was driving. But he used to tell us all kinds of spooky stuff. Ghosts and monsters and things that go bump in the night. The worst ones were the demons – evil spirits who could get inside the people you loved and make them do anything, say anything. They could make you hurt people and you would be powerless to stop it.”

“Demons?” Anna glances sidelong at her. “Were there angels, then?”

“Not in these stories,” Jo says. “The aim wasn’t really religious education. He just wanted us to piss our pants with fear. He told us the ghosts were only scared of fire, so if we went off on our own, they’d come after us.”

Anna laughs. “Did you believe him?”

“Maybe a little,” Jo admits. “I definitely didn’t want to get lost out here. I guess if I’d been older I might have wanted to, but as far as I was concerned, watching Dean drink a beer was risky enough for me.”

“Why did you stop?” Anna asks.

Jo sighs. “Got caught. Police car driving by saw the light and dragged him home with a warning. Dean was out here by himself, but Bobby and Ellen hit the roof. He got the full straighten up and fly right speech, and after that he wouldn’t come out here any more.”

Anna winces. “That can’t have been easy on him.”

“It was a long time ago. We’ve all grown up since then.” She shrugs. “I can still remember the stories, though.”

Anna leans into her again. “Care to share?”

Jo clears her throat.

“One dark night on a lonely highway, there waited a woman in white...”

 

By the time the fire has burned down to embers, Jo decides it’s late enough.

“Come on,” she says. “Time to go back in.”

She flicks on her flashlight, and for a moment, Anna’s wide eyes are caught in the glare.

“Now?” she asks.

“This is a ghost story,” Jo tells her. “Gotta get the right mood. And I think we’ve found it.”

Anna yawns. “Alright, then. Do you have another flashlight?”

Jo kneels to rummage in one of her bags. She tosses the second flashlight over to Anna before unpacking the video camera.

“You want to be cast, or crew?” she asks.

“It’s your project,” Anna points out. “I shouldn’t be the one in front of the lens.”

Jo smiles up at her.

“Get over here, then, and let me show you how it works.”

 

They start the camera rolling on the steps of the house.

“We good to go?” Jo confirms.

“It’s filming,” Anna answers. “Do you actually have a plan for this or are –”

“Nope!” Jo cuts her off. “Let’s see what happens. Right, it’s –” she peers at her watch – “twelve twenty three a.m. on March 15th –”

“Oh.”

Anna drops the camera. It swings on a wrist strap, and she makes a grab for it, quickly turning off the film. Her face goes pale, and she shudders.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, I –” She shakes her head. “It’s fine, we can keep filming.”

Jo raises an eyebrow at her. “They’ve been dead for decades, they can wait ten minutes. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I –” Anna sighs. “It’s my brother’s birthday today. I had forgotten.”

“Gabriel’s? I’m sure he’ll –”

“No.” Anna cuts her off. “Not Gabriel’s. Castiel.”

Jo hesitates. “I didn’t know you had any other siblings.”

Anna laughs. “It’s a long story. We should –”

“I want to hear it,” Jo insists. Then, after a moment – “If you want to tell me.”

“Alright,” Anna says, but her voice trembles on every word. “Technically, Gabriel is my half-brother. His mother died long before I was born. Our father remarried, and – clearly they wanted a large family. There was me, and then Castiel, Balthazar, the twins, Rachel and Hester, then Uriel and Inias.”

Anna recites the odd-sounding names with ease. Jo tries to picture her, surrounded by younger brothers and sisters, but she can’t seem to imagine their faces.

“Interesting names,” she comments, unable to help herself.

“Yeah.” Anna half-smiles. “They’re all angels, except for me. Dad was a theologian. I think my mom must have put her foot down when it came to me, but he still used to call me his little Anael when he was tucking me in at night.”

She smiles at the memory, but then her face goes cold again.

“I was eight. Inias was still a baby. There was a car crash.”

 Jo’s mind struggles to process. If Anna was eight, Gabriel must have been – what, perhaps sixteen? About the same age Dean had been when his dad died. Not old enough to get custody of one younger sibling, let alone seven.

No wonder Anna looks like her world has been torn apart.

“My dad was shot.” Jo isn’t sure where the words come from, only that she has to say something. “He was visiting the city, got in the middle of a robbery. He died a hero.”

Anna looks up at her sharply.

“I was seven,” Jo says. “Most of the time, it feels like I’ve lived my whole life without him. I can remember little things – the way he used to pick me up when he got back from a trip away...”

Her throat closes up for a second, and when she talks again, her voice is rough.

“But I forget it just a little bit every day. I’m forgetting him. And I’m scared that one day, I’ll wake up, and that’s all that’ll be left. ‘He died a hero.’”

She shakes her head. It’s late, and they’ve got a film to make. This isn’t the time to be getting over-emotional.

“Sometimes,” Anna says quietly. “I try to picture them, and all I can see is their headstone. ‘Charles and Rebecca Milton, May the angels guard your rest.’ But Castiel... He’s still alive, he’s still here. It might be years since I’ve seen him, but – I can’t forget him too.”

“You won’t,” Jo says. She lays a hand on Anna’s shoulder, and wishes she could do something more. The gesture seems so small under the silent weight of the night sky, but she meets Anna’s eye with a belief that could move galaxies. “We won’t forget them, ever.”

“You might be right.” Anna puts her hand over Jo’s, and squeezes. “I don’t think I’ll stop being afraid, though.”

“There are worse things than fear,” Jo tells her.

They stand like that for a second or two, holding onto each other tight at the boundary between moonlight and shadow. The only sound is their breaths, warm and close in the night air, and it feels for a moment as they are the last two living people on Earth.

Anna drops her hand, and looks down at the camera.

“We should start filming,” she says. “It’s late.”

“Yeah, right.”

Jo had been expecting to make a joke out of this video, spoofing what a real ghost hunt might be like. Now, she’s not really in a laughing mood.

She moves back to her place by the door, and waits until Anna gives her the nod.

“My name is Jo Harvelle, it’s twelve forty seven a.m. on March 15th, and I’m at Royce House on Centennial Drive. Twelve people are recorded to have died here in the past century, and nine of those deaths have been attributed to unnatural causes.”

She hesitates, and swallows before continuing.

“This is a ghost house. Nine people died here before their time, and now this house is full of their memories. I found out about this place from a young man called Landon Taylor, who lived in this area.”

“Tonight, nearly sixty years later, I am going to tell you how he died.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel makes the most of his favourite holiday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who doesn't currently follow my Tumblr, someone recently asked about the possibility of Dean/Cas in this fic. The [answer](http://centrumlumina.tumblr.com/post/57170585361) is, obviously, a minor spoiler, but if you have strong feelings about the topic, positive or negative, I suggest you read it.

The drive back the next morning is quiet. They’re both blinking sleepily as they drag themselves back to the car, and apart from a general longing for coffee, there isn’t much to discuss.

Anna has a lot to think about. Last night seems unreal, as though the two of them really had fallen into a different time. It’s been years since she’s spoken to anyone about her younger brothers and sisters. She’s barely even allowed herself to remember them.

The conversation with Jo felt freeing. She lets herself wonder, for the first time in years – where is Castiel, is he alright? She finds she can barely picture him. He would be at college now, if he went at all. How is he spending his birthday? Will it make him happy?

She worries about him, out in the world with no-one to look out for him, and it leaves that still-familiar ache in her chest which no other person in the world can produce.

There’s still a twinge of guilt at that – but then, Gabriel could always take care of himself. She was never the protective older sister to him, not like she was to the younger ones. And it had always been Castiel – closest to her in age, the wide-eyed boy who took in everything he heard and watched the world with eyes full of admiration – looking out for Castiel had been her _job_.

Until it wasn’t anymore. Perhaps Balthazar had taken on part of it – he always seemed to hero-worship Castiel – or perhaps little Rachel, who would fuss over any of them if they let her. But it wouldn’t be the same, with the younger ones.

It’s strange to think he’s out there somewhere, having lived just as long without her as she has without him. Perhaps she never knew her brother as well as she thought she did.

She almost expects that thought to sting, but she’s numb to any pain it holds. She’s had her years of grieving for that life. All she feels now is longing – the heedless, hopeless wish that things were different to how they are now. It isn’t comfortable, but it’s true.

She’s grateful to have it.

“Anna.” Jo’s voice startles her from her reverie. “We’re here.”

She peers out the window. The morning is too bright on her tired eyes, but she recognises her own house when she sees it.

She doesn’t step out the car yet.

“Thank you,” she says, touching her fingertips to Jo’s elbow. “Last night was... astounding.”

Jo smiles. “Yeah, sure. Tell me that again when you’re not sleep deprived.”

Anna laughs, and makes her goodbyes.

When she reaches the kitchen, Gabriel is waiting for her.

“Out all night?” he observes. “I hope you had some good, ‘safe’ fun.”

He winks, but Anna ignores the innuendo.

“I think I did,” she says, somewhat uncertainly.

“Only _think_?” Gabe laughs. “Annie, you two were doing it wrong.”

“Who said there has to be a right way?” she asks, sharply.

He only laughs harder.

“I take it back. Sounds like you’ve got the right idea. At last.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, but this isn’t the time to argue. She’s going to take a nap.

 

After that night, whatever distance there might have been between Anna and Jo vanishes. Jo edits together her footage on a laptop at the corner table, with Anna sneaking peeks over her shoulder every chance she gets. She presents the final project to the class the same day that Anna puts the finishing touches to her mural.

Life continues as normal until the morning Anna’s teeth turn blue.

She peers at her reflection in the mirror and rubs her eyes. It’s early, she’s still half asleep, and her teeth are blue. She pinches herself, but if this is a dream she’s now dreaming of a sore spot on her upper arm. And blue teeth.

She rubs at a tooth. The flat of her finger doesn’t shift the colour, although running a nail down it scrapes a clear white line along one incisor. When she pulls her hand away, there’s a stain under the fingernail.

She peers at her toothbrush. It’s blue too, but not unusually so. Except, she’s fairly sure that her toothbrush didn’t used to have a navy rim around the base of each bristle.

“Gabriel!”

Her brother would usually be asleep at this time, but she doesn’t let that stop her from storming into his bedroom. He’s already awake and waiting for her.

“Morning, Annie!”

“What did you do?” she demands.

“Food colouring!” he answers gleefully. His grin stretches as wide as she’s ever seen it, and a memory stirs. With a hideous sinking feeling, Anna realises what he’s going to say next.

“April Fools!”

Anna can’t believe she hadn’t realised the date. April 1st is easily Gabe’s favourite day of the year. Unfortunately, that means everyone in a three mile radius had better watch their step.

The day progresses much as she expects it to. The cereal collapses out of the bottom of the box, and the milk is a solid mass in the bottle. She doesn’t bother attempting to add sugar to her coffee – that one is too obvious a trap. Nor does she look twice when Gabriel walks into the kitchen, takes out the mayonnaise jar, and starts eating the contents by the spoonful.

By the time she’s scrubbed her teeth – and her toothbrush – clean again, she’s running later than she’d like. She only hopes that Gabe respects the sanctity of the workplace.

It isn’t much of a hope.

She arrives to find a new and unfamiliar cake waiting in the display case. After a couple of minutes consideration, she decides that Gabe has probably limited himself to something non-toxic.

On the label, she writes “Dare Cake”. After a moment’s thought, she adds: “Not suitable for those with dietary restrictions.” Several customers decide to try their luck anyway; she doesn’t ask what they discover inside, but she gathers that it involves pop rocks, and possibly also meatloaf?

She makes it almost to the end of her shift without incident. At least, no-one complains. Still, she’s on edge all day, waiting for the next disaster to strike. She doesn’t begin to relax until Gabriel finally arrives to take his shift, and Jo walks in the door, back early from the one day a week she doesn’t have an afternoon class.

“You clock off,” Gabe tells her. “I’ve got this.”

Anna is too exhausted to argue. Of all their customers, Jo is definitely the best equipped to handle herself if Gabriel decides to try anything.

There are no raised voices in the time it takes her to take off her apron, but when she emerges, Dean has arrived.

“Do I want to know about ‘Dare Cake’?” he asks.

“The question is, do you _dare_ to learn its secrets?” Gabe corrects. “It’s April Fools Day. Anything could happen.”

“And quite frequently does,” Anna says with a sigh.

Gabe hands Jo her coffee, and she peers at it suspiciously.

“Did you mess with this?”

“Of course not!” Gabe sounds genuinely offended, but that really doesn’t mean much.

Jo frowns at her cup. “If you lie to me, I will kick your ass. Don’t think I won’t.”

“It’s clean, Jolene,” Gabe quips. “Do you really think I would I do something like that to you?”

Jo raises her eyebrows in a clear yes, but she hesitantly takes a sip of the coffee.

She gags.

The cup slams against the counter, and Jo wipes an hand roughly across her mouth.

“Salt.”

Gabriel gapes at her.

“You put salt in my coffee?”

“No I didn’t!”

Anna frowns. Gabriel can fake innocence as well as any prankster, but he looks genuinely surprised.

“Did you think I was kidding about kicking your ass?” Jo folds her arms across her chest. “I know where my mom keeps her shotgun, you know.”

Gabriel swallows hard.

“No, listen, I didn’t –”

 Dean snickers.

Jo’s head whips around at ninety miles an hour.

“Dean!” she complains, as he breaks down into open guffaws.

“You -?” Gabriel stares at him. “Nice one, Winchester.”

He high fives Dean.

“See?” Gabe says to Jo. “You should have trusted me. Or at least, trusted that I’m more original than putting _salt_ in someone’s _coffee_.”

“Really?” Dean asks. “So I didn’t see you sneak a wad of tissue paper into Anna’s panini just now?”

Anna rolls her eyes, and pushes the plate back at him.

“I can’t believe you still think I’d accept food from you on April first,” she tells her brother.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Gabe says with a shrug. “So, replacement latte coming up for Jo, this time low sodium.”

“That or Dean’s head on a plate,” Jo says, sweetly.

Gabe looks Dean up and down. “What do you reckon, Winchester? Any chance of me getting my hands on your parts?”

He waggles his eyebrows, and Dean chuckles. “Aren’t you going to buy me dinner first?”

“I love it when you play hard to get.”

Anna rolls her eyes, and heads over to a table with Jo.

“Sorry,” she says. “It’s like this every year when Gabriel’s around.”

“Tell me about it.” Jo shoots a glare back at the counter. “We need to get them back for this.”

“I’ve tried before,” Anna says. “But I’ve never managed to get one over on Gabe.”

Jo smiles in a way that sets butterflies in Anna’s stomach.

“Oh, I’m sure we can think of something...”

 

 About half an hour later, when they’ve finished eating and Jo’s left for her shift, Anna takes her plate back to the counter.

“No hard feelings, right Annie?” Gabe asks with a grin.

“I suppose not.” She sighs. “So long as you’re not torturing our customers. Speaking of which, remember to fill this up.”

She taps the empty display of chocolates next to the till. Gabriel frowns.

“That sold out fast...”

Anna shrugs, and walks out of the door.

As soon as she’s out of sight, she races around to the back entrance. They hardly ever use the back way into the cafe – it’s more of an emergency exit – but she isn’t the first person to head through there today.

She’s about ten metres away from the door when her phone goes off. She hesitates outside, peering at it.

“Got him!”

She hurries through the door into the back room of the shop, where Jo is waiting, barely visible in the thick shadows outside of the store cupboard door. When she sees Anna, she grins and gives a thumbs up.

Anna grabs her apron and ties it quickly. Onto phase two.

“Hey!” Gabe’s voice calls through the door. “Come on, Annie. I know it’s you.”

“Oh do you now?” Jo calls back.

There’s a moment of silence.

“Jo,” Gabriel says calmly. “Listen, Jo. I know we’ve had our differences –”

“Stow it,” Jo tells him. “We’ll let you out when we’re good and ready, and not a moment before.”

Gabriel sighs. “I deserve this one, don’t I?”

Jo laughs. Anna doesn’t have time to do more than smile, though. She needs to get back out behind the counter.

She makes it out just in time. She only has a couple of minutes to spare before Dean gets out of his seat and walks past her on the way out.

“Dean!” she gasps.

“Anna?” he looks around. “I thought your shift was over.”

“It’s supposed to be,” she says, fervently. “Do you know what happened to Gabe? I saw him go in back, but he must have gone out the other door...”

Dean shakes his head. “Sorry, I –”

“Great.” She puts a hand to her face, if only because she’s worried she’s going to ruin this all by laughing. “Okay, right, I can handle this until he gets back –”

Dean frowns, as Jo had known he would. “Do you need a hand or anything?”

There’s a giggle trapped in her throat that feels like it’s been pressurised, and it’s about to come shooting out at high speed. She bites her lip and forces it down.

“Actually,” she says. “I hate to ask, but we’re out of chocolates.” She gestures to the empty box. “There’s a new box in back, but I don’t want to leave the till unattended for any longer than it already has been...”

Dean nods. “Sure, I can go get them for you. Where are they?”

“In the store cupboard, top shelf on the right,” she says, trying to look grateful.

Dean smiles at her, reassuringly, and disappears into the back room.

Quickly, Anna empties the chocolates out of her purse back into the display box. She’s still arranging them when she hears the muffled thud of a door slamming shut.

She sets out the ‘Back in five minutes!’ sign, and quietly slips into the back room.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prank does not turn out as they expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, I couldn't get the page to load last night.

Jo leans against the wall, smiling from ear to ear.

She’s amazed that they pulled it off. In those few tense minutes she’d spent hidden here in the dark, she was certain that Gabriel and Dean would spot her the moment they’d come through the door. But Anna’s hiding spot had worked perfectly, and neither of them had realised she was there until it was too late, the lock clicking shut behind them.

Dean shouts through the door, muted to a low buzz by the heavy wood.

“What the hell? Let us out! Jo! Anna! I know you’re out there!”

“I bet they aren’t!” Gabriel’s voice is so muffled that Jo can’t make out the rest of the words, but there are a lot of them, and they don’t sound pleased. She grins so hard her cheeks hurt.

Anna cracks the door open and steps softly inside, careful not to make any noise. They don’t have long to keep the boys in there – Ash can cover Jo’s shift for next half an hour, but Anna doesn’t want to leave the cafe unsupervised for anywhere near that long. The aim is to make them _think_ they’re going to be trapped there for a while, and it sounds like Gabe has already bought it.

Anna meets Jo’s eyes, and she dissolves into a silent spasm of laughter.

“You did WHAT?” Dean shouts, and they both start.

“Oh, come _on_!” Gabe’s voice replies. “Like you haven’t...”

“Well, _yeah_ , but...”

More words, in both Gabriel’s voice and Dean’s. Jo’s curious what they’re talking about. It’s not like the two of them have had many conversations – as far as she knows, this is probably the longest they’ve gone in close quarters without something – or _someone_ – getting broken. But Anna seemed confident that the two of them weren’t at each others’ throats any more, and so far it seems she was right.

Beside Jo, Anna has buried her face in her hands. She’s laughing so hard she seems to be struggling to keep herself upright. Jo lays a hand on her back, and Anna clasps her arm.

“I can’t believe we did it,” she whispers.

Another thrill of happiness tugs at the corners of Jo’s mouth.

“Me either,” she murmurs back.

She loves this feeling, the bright, sherbet fizz in her chest when a trick goes perfectly to plan. She and Sam and Dean used to have epic three-way prank wars, teaming up against each other in every possible combination. She might have been the smallest, but she resented every moment it looked like they were going easier on her because of it. She always loved the exhilaration of knowing she’d gotten the better of the Winchesters when they were all playing their A game.

From what she’d said earlier, this is the first time Anna’s ever beaten Gabriel at his own game. She’s clinging to Jo, her eyes watering as she gasps for air between fits of giggles – but the look on her face is one of pure, radiant joy.

A whole different thrill floods Jo’s heart, honey sweet and so warm it feels like it should burn a hole right through her. Suddenly, Anna isn’t the only one breathless.

Then she realises how quiet it’s gotten. Dean and Gabriel have stopped talking. It sounds like they’ve given up hope of being released.

Anna catches her eye, and glances at the door. They exchange nods. Jo holds up fingers: three, two –

She flicks open the catch, and pulls open the cupboard door.

Jo freezes, unable to process what’s before her eyes.

Dean is leaning up against the shelves, his hands in Gabriel’s hair as Gabe pulls his face down into a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss.

There’s a roaring noise in her ears; she’s lightheaded, almost dizzy. She blinks a few times, but it’s still happening. Dean and Gabriel are _making_ _out_.

She can’t stop staring, so she sees the exact moment that Dean notices the open door. He shoves Gabriel away from him, and straightens starts smoothing down his shirt. His face turns bright red, and he won’t look her in the eye. Jo wishes she could say something, but she doesn’t know where to start.

Gabriel, on the other hand, looks right at them without an ounce of shame in his expression. He grins, almost cockily, and speaks as though he’s issuing a challenge.

“And _that_ , girls, is how you do it.”

Jo furrows her brow, trying to work out what he means by that, but his eyes are fixed firmly on Anna’s, and they seem to be having a battle of the wills in a silent language Jo can’t follow. Dean, meanwhile, is still ducking his head, as the silence stretches quickly into awkwardness.

Jo tries to imagine how she would feel in Dean’s position, trapped and caught off guard. Her stomach churns. She’s over her surprise now; she can’t allow this to happen to Dean.

“Damn it!” she says, and everyone looks at her, even Dean. “I can’t believe you two got us back after all that! You guys sure know how to pull a good prank.”

Dean frowns. Gabriel rolls his eyes, but at least his sigh breaks through the weight of Dean’s embarrassment.

“We sure do, Jolene,” he says. “But I can’t stay and chat. I’ve got a cafe to run.”

He walks out of the room. Almost immediately, Dean follows, muttering: “Gotta work.”

Anna and Jo are left alone. Jo meets Anna’s eye, trying to silently convey how overwhelmed she feels, full to the brim with anger and confusion and regret. Anna says nothing, only stares back with a blank expression which could be incomprehension, understanding, or anything in between, until Jo can’t bear to look any more.

“I should get going,” Jo says quietly.

She leaves without looking back.

 

The entire incident leaves Jo reeling for days.

A part of it is that it’s Dean kissing a man. Dean, who has always loved women, who led a string of girls behind him into the janitor’s closet in high school, or took them out for the night in the Impala, or led them up to his bedroom to play records too loud. Dean has always been the straight-laced older brother, ready to take over the family business and settle down with a picket fence and a couple of kids and a nice, normal _wife_.

She hates that she’s so shocked by this – she knows she’s a hypocrite for it. But that image runs deep, and it takes her a little while to see that it isn’t – it never has been – set in stone.

Then there’s the fact that it’s _Gabriel_. Anna’s _brother_. What happened to Dean being pissed at him? At the most, she’d thought they had learned to tolerate each other, for her and Sam and Anna’s sakes – and now...

She’s trying not to think of the... physicality of it. It’s bad enough that she had to see her almost-brother’s tongue in someone else’s mouth once. As far as she’s concerned, she could do without ever remembering it again. Ever.

Only that’s the thing – she’s pretending she doesn’t. Or at least, that she didn’t see it for what it so obviously was. At the time, it seemed like the best idea – not forcing Dean into anything – but now she wonders if not talking about it at all isn’t worse.

Dean has been avoiding her, making any excuse not to be alone together. She wasn’t naïve enough to expect anything different. She only wishes she was brave enough to take him to one side herself, to finally say: “It’s okay, dumbass, I love you.”

But there’s a part of her which wants to say more – to add, “trust me, _I get it_.” It feels like an opportunity, one she isn’t going to get twice. Only, if she wasn’t going to say anything before, was this really a good enough reason? What if she’s reading too much into the situation? Just because there’s a passing similarity, doesn’t mean Dean feels the same way she does...

She goes back and forth on the topic, unable to decide – and in the meantime, she takes the coward’s way out. She says nothing.

 

That Friday, after the Studies in Local History lecture, Professor Barnes calls her over.

“Jo!” she says, too loudly for Jo to pretend she didn’t hear. “Do you have a minute?”

She takes a breath before turning back, and tries to smile. “Yep!”

“Great! Just hold on a sec while I –”

Jo waits in silence while Pamela files away her notes, trying desperately to keep calm. There was a pop quiz a week ago – did she fail? Is something wrong with her project work? She scours her memory for anything she might have done wrong. Most of her marks in this class have been good, but the independent study is almost half the final grade...

Pamela looks up at her. “I just finished marking your project research notes. I was wondering – what made you think of the topic?”

Jo’s mouth goes dry. “I already knew a couple of ghost stories about the house. I figured it would be interesting to hear the truth in them.”

“So you made that video...”

“Yeah,” Jo says. “I thought it would be something different. I guess it was kind of morbid, but –”

“It was an angle,” Pam finishes. “One you went to a lot of trouble for. Convincing the owner to give you a key...”

She looks at Jo thoughtfully. Jo gulps, hoping that she hasn’t broken some kind of rule.

“You ever thought about journalism?”

Jo blinks. “What?”

“I mean, you still haven’t declared a major, right?” Pam asks. “Now, I’m all for keeping your options open, but the Dean says you got to pick something. This kind of determination, the fact checking, the commitment to good storytelling – I can see you making a great reporter, if you wanted to.”

 “I never really thought about it...” Jo frowns, expecting there to be some obvious reason why this is a ridiculous idea, and not finding one.

“I don’t want to pressure you!” Pam throws up her hands. “But if you were interested in journalism as a career, I’m always here to point you in the right direction. There’s always the school paper, of course, or I could put you in touch with one of my old students over at the Tribune, Cassie –”

“Robinson?” Jo asks. “She’s a journalist now?”

“You two know each other?”

“She and Dean used to date, a couple of years back,” Jo explains. “I never really got to know her.”

The relationship had been brief, but intense. Cassie and Dean were always wrapped up in each other – Jo never got a word in edgeways – but after a few months, Cassie had left town to go to college in a different state. They both agreed it was over, but it had still hit Dean pretty hard.

“Well, she’s a junior correspondent now,” Pam says. “And a damn good one, from what I hear. I bet she’d be happy to give you a few words of advice.”

Jo stares at her. This has come out of nowhere, and she can barely process the idea. So why does she want to say yes.

“Think about it,” Pamela tells her. “You don’t have to make a decision today. I just wanted you to consider your options.”

Jo promises that she will. But on the inside, she’s wondering – where does she even start?


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A birthday celebration.

Anna stays silent.

There is a lot she’d like to say. To Dean, especially – ‘I’m sorry’ being top of the list. She never would have suggested the prank if she had known what it would lead to. Her only defence is that she never even considered it a possibility.

The only reason she doesn’t apologise is that to do so would mean admitting that she doesn’t believe Jo’s ready made excuse for him, that it was all just a joke. Of course, she doesn’t even know whether or not Jo believes that, but on the off-chance she does, Anna isn’t going to be the one to disillusion her. She isn’t going to out him twice.

She doesn’t want Dean to feel like he has to trust her with that, though. To him, she suspects she’s Jo’s friend and little else, just the girl who serves him coffee. Since she plans to leave him to talk to Jo in his own time, the best way to communicate that is to treat the news as exactly what it is: nothing which concerns her. If Dean wants to talk to anyone about what happened, that duty will have to fall to Gabriel.

It’s about the only talking Anna is willing to hear from him at the minute. Quite apart from his apparent _pride_ at falling into his very own teen movie cliché, any doubts she had about the sincerity of Gabriel’s behaviour have been put to rest by his incessant, faintly smug air of content.

She knows her brother; this isn’t satisfaction in a trick played well. This is the start of a new relationship, and he’s glowing with it.

Anna wants to tell him to shut up at least twenty times a day. Especially when he isn’t actually saying anything. How can an emotion be so _loud_?

She refrains, though. She can’t begrudge her brother’s happiness, even if she does envy it.

 

That Saturday, Jo’s normal study session is far less stressed than usual. Her mid-terms passed a few weeks ago, and she’s already presented her project on the ghost house. In her own words: “Now is the time to kick back and think about other things.”

“Good timing for it too,” she remarks. “I won’t even have to blow off work for the party next weekend.”

Anna tries to keep the question off her face. She doesn’t want to intrude, but this is the first she’s heard about any party, and she can’t help but wonder.

Jo catches her expression, and leans forwards in her chair.

“Hell,” she says. “Don’t tell me I forgot to tell you about it.”

Anna smiles ruefully. “It’s news to me...” she admits.

“I forgot.” Jo groans. “Everyone at the Roadhouse already knows, I guess I figured you did too... You can still make it, right? Next Saturday?”

“I should be able to,” Anna tells her. “What’s the occasion?”

“My birthday,” Jo says.

Anna’s eyes widen. “It’s your birthday in a week?”

“A week?” Jo smiles. “Try Tuesday. Come on, I must have mentioned –”

“No.” Anna shakes her head. “You didn’t.”

“Or you forgot.”

“I would have remembered.”

“Oh really?” Jo smirks.

“Well, yes,” Anna says. “I think I would have said something if I knew your birthday was less than a week before mine.”

Jo’s mouth drops open.

“A week on Monday,” Anna elaborates.

“The thirteenth?” Jo confirms. “And you still reckon you’re free on the Saturday?”

“I don’t normally do much to celebrate,” Anna says. Some years, Meg and Ruby will drag her out somewhere, but they’ve been strangely quiet on that front since Valentine’s day.

“Well, if you wanted a party, I’m already taking over the Roadhouse for an evening. Plenty of room for anyone you wanted to invite.”

Anna smiles. “I think I’d like that. A joint celebration.”

“My twentieth and your –” Jo hesitates. “Nope. I don’t know, and I’m not guessing.”

“Also twentieth,” Anna informs her.

Jo blinks. “You’re younger than me?”

“So it would seem.”

“You look older.” Jo says. “Act it, too.”

“I’m going to choose to see that as a compliment.”

Jo rolls her eyes.

“Only by a couple of years,” she huffs.

“You know,” Anna says thoughtfully. “I always figured you were twenty, not nineteen.”

She knew Jo wasn’t old enough to drink, but that had surprised her when she first learned it.

“A year out is nothing,” Jo snorts. “I figured you for twenty three, twenty four.”

Anna shrugs. “You figured wrong.”

“I figured wrong,” Jo echoes slowly. “Okay, so it’s our joint twentieth party. Deal?”

“On one condition,” Anna says. “I want to show you how I celebrate birthdays.”

“Which is?” Jo asks.

“Come over to my place tomorrow,” Anna tells her. “I’m baking you a cake.”

Jo grins.

“You’re on.”

 

From the moment Jo steps into the kitchen, it’s clear she’s out of her element.

“It’s not like I can’t cook,” she says. “But cakes...”

“You don’t have to help if you don’t want to,” Anna repeats as she ties back her hair.

“I’m not going to sit around and watch you do it all!” Jo insists. “You bake all the time. You must be sick of it.”

“Not really,” Anna says, tossing her the spare apron. “But it is more fun with company.”

“Right.” Jo ties the strap into a tight bow, her look as stubborn as any knight donning armour. “So where do we start?”

“Normally?” Anna asks. “In here.”

She pulls her recipe book off the shelf and hands it to Jo, who looks a little flustered.

“Right,” she says. “I knew that.”

 

After a little deliberation – “What one tastes the best?” “Whichever is your favourite.” “Yeah, but which one?” – they settle on a strawberry sponge, sweet and simple. They measure out the ingredients and Anna shows Jo how to cream the butter and sugar together and beat in the eggs.

Despite her hesitation, Jo takes to it with enthusiasm. If anything, she’s a little too forceful with it, and a few splashes of batter make it out of the bowl before she gets the hang of the speed. She complains of a sore wrist about halfway through the eggs, and Anna takes over and makes short work of the flour.

Jo pours the mixture carefully into the cake tins, a nice level surface. Then she runs her finger across one, and sucks a scrape of mixture into her mouth with a sly smirk.

Anna watches as she sucks the finger clean with a pop. She catches Jo’s eye, and raises her eyebrow.

“I might be new at this, but everyone knows that tasting is the best part,” Jo says. “You want some?”

“It’s your cake,” Anna reminds her. “Are you sure you want my fingers in it?”

“Well, when you put it like that...” Jo smiles even wider. She draws another trail in the top of the other pan, coating her finger with the sugary vanilla mix.

She holds the finger in front of Anna’s mouth.

“There! Problem solved.”

Anna blinks at it for a second, feeling her face heating up. Jo doesn’t seem to have noticed anything strange, but Anna’s heart is pounding. She pokes out her tongue, and licks a careful stripe along the side.

Jo laughs, shaking her hand just enough to smear a blob of batter across the tip of Anna’s nose. The sight of that only makes her laugh harder. Anna wipes it off with as much dignity as she can muster, and licks her hands clean.

“Sorry,” Jo gasps. “That tickled.”

“See if you get to lick the spoon,” Anna teases. Jo’s eyes grow wide, and she reaches for it, but Anna bats them away and smoothes down the mixture in the tins first. She turns back to see that Jo’s already tracing spirals in the drops of batter still clinging to the inside of the mixing bowl.

“Let’s get them in the oven first, shall we?” she suggests, and Jo lets the bowl drop with a clatter as she hurries over to help carry the two tins over to the oven.

“Now what?” Jo asks as they set the timer.

Anna sighs. “Now, washing up.”

“Well, yeah,” Jo says. “I meant after that.”

“After?” Anna shrugs. “We wait for it to cool, I suppose.”

Jo frowns. “I thought this was supposed to be our _joint_ birthday celebration. Don’t you get a cake?”

Anna stares at her. “You want to make another one?”

“Practise makes perfect,” Jo says with a shrug. “So, what’s your favourite?”

Anna blinks, and tries to think of a suitable lie.

“Oh.” Jo stares at her. “It’s chocolate cake, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Anna says, surprised. “I never told you that.”

“You really think I’ve forgotten the day we met?” Jo asks. “You lit up just at the thought of it. Ready to give it one more try?”

Anna considers it. The air is warm and scented like vanilla. There’s flour on the countertop. Jo is smiling.

She straightens her back, and plants her heels into the ground. “Let’s do this.”

This cake isn’t like the first – she has no space to show Jo the way here. She’s the one measuring out just the right amount of flour by eye – perhaps a little less than last time? – while Jo watches from two paces back, silent and wide-eyed.

Occasionally, Anna will half-turn and request – “Cinnamon?” – waving at the right cupboard. But for the most part, Anna’s attention is fixed on the recipe. Two eggs or three? They seem quite large...

“Uh, Anna?” Jo is clearly hesitant to interrupt, but after a moment, Anna realises what she’s asking. The timer is going off.

She points to a drawer. “Skewers are in there. Take one, poke it into the middle of each cake. If it comes out clean, they’re done; if not, two more minutes.”

“Got it.”

She decides upon three, and cracks them into the bowl, stirring carefully with an eagle eye for any signs of trouble. She doesn’t let herself breathe again until the cake is in the oven.

“That was intense,” Jo remarks. “Chocolate cake is serious business, right?”

Anna flashes a smile, but there’s a knot in her guts as she starts to speculate on what will go wrong this time. Burned? Soggy? Flaking apart? She never knows what it might be. She has seen every way that this recipe can fail, and yet every failure still comes a surprise to her.

“We can turn these onto a rack to cool,” she tells Jo about the sponge. “And then get started chopping the strawberries.”

 But while Jo steals away strawberry slices and the sticky juice begins to trickle down her chin, Anna is distracted and fretful. She lowers the knife, and drifts back to the oven to peer through the door, checking the timer again. In the faint orange glow, it’s hard to tell if it’s going well or not.

 “So, that recipe is different, right?” Jo bites her lip. “You didn’t look in the book once.”

“It isn’t in there.”

“And it goes wrong a lot?”

Anna’s stomach clenches. Talking about it feels like bad luck, although a part of her wonders how it could possibly go worse than normal.

“Yes,” she answers tersely.

“If you don’t mind me asking – why don’t you find a different one?” Jo looks down. “I mean, if you have so much trouble with it. Or are you trying to invent one?”

Anna sighs. “Not exactly. It’s... someone else’s recipe. I want to recreate it.”

“Oh.” Fortunately, Jo doesn’t say any more.

Anna squints through the oven door again, then checks her watch. It should be rising by now. And does she smell...?

She snatches up the oven gloves and pulls the cake out, just as the edges begin to smoke. It’s burnt there, but the centre is still a gooey puddle, completely uncooked. Anna gazes down at it impassively.

“Fuck.”

She doesn’t even hear Jo get up, but there’s a hand on the small of her back.

“Come on,” she hears Jo whisper. “It’s fine. It’s only a cake.”

“I’m alright,” Anna says. She is. It doesn’t hurt any more. She looks down at the ruined mess in front of her and she’s smiling, really honestly smiling. “This happens every time. Every single time. Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”

Jo looks concerned, although Anna imagine why.

“Because,” Jo says in a low voice. “You’re crying.”

“Oh.” Anna raises a hand to her cheek, and feels the dampness there. It’s warm against her fingers. “Yes. I am. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to –” Jo shakes her head. “Look, if this recipe is so important, isn’t there someone who could help you out with it? _Anyone_ you could ask?”

Anna’s head snaps up.

“You know what?” she says, clarity a sudden thrill in her veins. “There is.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo listens, and learns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some content which may be triggering or alarming. If you wish to be warned for this content, please consult the chapter end notes before reading it.

Jo made the suggestion with the best intentions, but she regrets it almost immediately. There’s a look in Anna’s eye like marble – cold, hard, and glinting in a way that has nothing to do with tears.

Jo doesn’t know what is going on in her friend’s head right now, but it scares her – and, as she watches Anna pick up the phone and dial, she can’t shake the feeling that she’s somehow made things worse.

Jo would snatch the phone right out of her hand if she thought she could stop this. But with Anna in this mood, she doesn’t think fighting is going to do either of them any good.

“Hello?” Anna says. Jo can’t hear the person on the other end of the phone, but Anna’s face goes pale. “Yes, yes, I –”

There’s a long silence. Jo can hear Anna’s breathing getting faster, harder, as though she’s running a marathon just by listening. She turns away from Jo, into the corner, her eyes cast down at the floor.

“I’m sorry,” she says eventually, almost panting for air. “I shouldn’t have –”

Jo winces at the sound of the disconnect tone.

Anna slowly lowers the phone from her ear. She drops it on the counter and turns, staring right through Jo as though no-one is there. She stumbles towards the table and sits down, all without turning her head an inch.

Then Anna buries her head in her arms, and bursts into tears.

Jo’s apprehension vanishes in an instant. This isn’t the blankness of before, when Anna had stood over the ruined cake and wept without even knowing it. There is nothing unnerving about this; this is a friend, in pain. She needs help.

Jo throws open draws, searching the unfamiliar kitchen for something she knows must be there. In the third draw, she finds it – a box of tissues. She puts them on the table in front of Anna.

There is no reaction. But by the time she has put the kitchen back in order, Anna has a Kleenex clenched tightly in one fist.

Cautiously, Jo reaches out, but when Anna flinches away from her fingertips, she decides against it. She looks around the room, trying to find something else she could do.

She goes to the fridge. It takes her a couple of minutes to find what she’s looking for, but it’s there, just like she thought it would be.

She takes the whipped cream back to the table, and starts spraying it in clumps on top of the cake. They’re a little uneven, but it’s better than nothing. On top of each one, she places one of the strawberry slices she was cutting earlier.

A few minutes later, Anna looks up.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her voice shaky and swamped in tears.

“I’m decorating our birthday cakes,” Jo tells her, which elicits another sob. Jo bites the inside of her cheek, and waits for Anna to be able to speak again.

“I’m sorry –”

“Don’t apologise,” Jo snaps, more forcefully than she meant to. She tries to quash the flare of anger, but her hand tenses on the nozzle and sprays an extra-large dollop of cream. Heat simmers under her skin – someone has made Anna hurt, and Jo doesn’t know why, or how to stop it. Anna is the last person who needs to apologise.

“I’m making you a cake,” Jo explains. “And then, if you want me to go, I’ll go. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay. If you want to talk about it –”

“It’s a long story,” Anna interrupts, and Jo knows that she needs this.

“I want to hear it,” she says, meaning every word. “If you feel ready to tell me.”

Anna doesn’t speak, and Jo spends a couple more minutes decorating the cakes in silence. Then –

“Could you sit down?”

Jo abandons the cakes immediately, and makes her way around the table to sit next to Anna.

“On the phone before –” Anna begins. “That was Raphael. My sister.”

Jo doesn’t recall the name being among Anna’s list of siblings, but she stays silent, and lets Anna find her own words.

“I suppose this all starts before I was born. Gabriel isn’t my oldest brother. He has three older siblings – full siblings. Raphael is the youngest, and then there are his brothers, Michael and Lucifer.

“The oldest two always fought. I don’t know what it was about, exactly, but I can guess – Michael was always the good son, the straight A student. Lucifer was more rebellious, a trouble-maker. They were never going to get on.

“Then our parents died. Gabriel must just have started college; Michael had recently graduated and was working for one of my father’s friends, and suddenly he was gone, and they had seven small children to raise. It was years before I realised how hard that must have been.

“At the funeral, there was a fight. Michael broke Lucifer’s nose. Gabriel had tried to get in between them. I never saw Lucifer again after that, and a couple of weeks later, Gabe went back to college and just didn’t come home again. I don’t know why. I’ve never asked him.

“Michael and Raphael raised us, with help from Michael’s boss – good old Uncle Zachariah. They tried their hardest to be like parents to us. Raphael taught me how to bake, when I was still a little girl – my sister always made the best chocolate cake...”

Anna hesitates. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes,” Jo tells her, although a part of her is already fuming.

Gabriel, she knows well enough to give the benefit of the doubt – she can see how he could have had his reasons for leaving. But Raphael... Jo can’t understand how the same person whose words made Anna cry like that still gets to be called her sister in a voice heavy with longing.

Family might make you want to scream, they might build up your hopes and then break your heart, but they should never tear you down. They’re the ones who know how to do real damage.

“Things started to change when I was fifteen,” Anna continues. “I was the eldest, the first to become a teenager... I got rebellious. I wanted to skip church and cut my hair short. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, only that I was tired of being a good girl.

“And then I met Bela Talbot.”

Anna holds her breath for a second, and looks at Jo, imploring.

“She was older,” she explains. “Nineteen, and already owned a house on the outskirts of the city. She seemed so much smarter than anyone my own age – she debated politics, joked about philosophy. And she was very, very beautiful. I never understood why she was interested in me.”

A few moments too late, Jo catches her meaning like a blow to the throat, cutting off her windpipe as the air rushes from her lungs. She’s too stunned to process what it means, knocked down before she can respond.

Bela Talbot. Anna’s ex.

“She had a group of friends she liked to keep around, all girls, all older than me. Most of them were at the university with her. They would get together at her place, discuss art and literature over a bottle of wine. At first, I was amazed just to be there, but she always made certain I felt welcome, included. It became a part of my routine, sneaking out when I was supposed to be at choir practise or staying with a friend.

“Bela hated boredom. She made that clear from the start, that she would never stand for ennui. But it was a few months before she turned to me and asked if I wanted my life to be more exciting...”

“She was a thief.” Anna’s tone is blunt, any trace of nostalgia vanishing abruptly. “She didn’t need to be, she certainly didn’t want for money. She simply enjoyed the thrill of it. She mostly stole small things – shoplifting, sometimes picking pockets. I suppose most of the girls were tacitly aware of it, but there was an inner circle she trusted to help her. She invited me to join them; she told me it was victimless, and that it would be fun.

“I believed her.”

Anna winces at the admission, and Jo bites her lip even though she already guessed where this was going. She half expects Anna to begin crying again, but if anything, she looks angry.

“To her credit, she wasn’t wrong. It was the most alive I had ever felt. All those years of trying to be perfect, forcing my life into Michael’s ideal – I had finally found my way out. I was becoming someone new. I got so caught up in that, I didn’t look too hard at who that person was.

“I’m not going to try to justify it – I liked it, the risk and the adrenaline and knowing I was breaking all the rules. I talked myself into it by steps – at first, I was never the one to take anything. My job was always to be the lookout, the distraction, the bait. Bela said that even if we got caught, no-one would believe someone like me was involved. I was too innocent. Angel-faced, she used to call me. Her little angel.”

Jo sucks in a breath of recognition, and Anna’s lip curves.

“Yes, Ruby was there,” she confirms. “At first. She wasn’t a student either, but she had known Bela a long time. I never found out why, and I hated that. I was so jealous of her, at first. But I was Bela’s protégée, the one she took a personal interest in. I had caught her eye, and she made no effort to hide it. She left very little room for jealousy, or doubt.”

Jo’s gut, on the other hand, is churning with it. There’s a writhing coil of anger inside of her – hatred for a woman she’s never met. Jo cannot picture Anna as younger, so in her mind, Bela is older, mid-twenties, yet still with all the unassailable sophistication Anna recalled. The image is unclear – all Bela is to her is a name without a face, an imagined memory of a hand against Anna’s skin.

Jo wants her to _hurt_. Not for touching Anna’s flesh, but for walking into her mind and leaving less than she had found there. Anna had remembered her childhood with affection, but now her voice is turning sharp and bitter. If Bela – older, wiser, should have known better – if she had any part in taking that openness from Anna –

Jo understands why Dean threw that punch at Gabriel, all those months ago.

The knowledge terrifies her.

“I stopped caring about living up to my family’s expectations. I think I wanted them to find out, to realise how thoroughly I had turned my back on them. I let my grades slip, stopped making excuses for myself. It didn’t take Michael long to find out where I was going, what I was doing with my time.

“Not long after my birthday, he called me into his office. He didn’t shout or scream, he was... cold. He knew everything, the shoplifting, Bela. He told me that it was unacceptable. That I was going to put a stop to it, or he would. He wouldn’t tell me what he meant by that, but the way he looked at me... I believed he was capable of anything.”

A chill runs down Jo’s spine. ‘Anything’ seems far larger than it did this morning.

“I ran,” Anna whispers. “I left that night, showed up on Bela’s doorstep unannounced. I stopped going to school and moved in with her. It was almost summer anyway. For a while, I was happier. I was always scared that I would get caught, that they would force me to go back – but what difference was a little more fear? We kept stealing. The students went home for the summer, Ruby left town with Meg, and it was just the two of us.

“Then Bela discovered Lilith. She was another high schooler, a little older than me. Bela was interested in her straight away, and I didn’t understand why she wanted someone else around. Lilith started coming over, and then she would come pick pocketing with us. She was better at it than I was.

Jo’s breath catches in her throat. She thinks she can see where this is going.

“Towards the end of the summer, Bela started to get restless. Even when term started again, she kept talking about raising the stakes, doing something big. Lilith suggested a heist, and she chose a target. The others who sometimes helped her were back, but she wanted it to be just the three of us, her crack team.

“It seemed so glamorous, planning it out, the big score. Like something from a movie. Nothing felt real until the night itself. As soon as we walked into the building, it felt wrong – too big, too dangerous, too _illegal_. I was sick with nerves. I wanted to leave, but Lilith insisted we could pull it off, and Bela agreed with her. I was outvoted.

“We didn’t realise the building had a hidden alarm. We were inside when the police arrived at the front. We ran to the back door, but I was slower than they were. I was only a second or two behind, but they were already through and the door had locked behind them. I hammered on the window, shouted for them to come back and help me. Bela looked back, and I was sure she would stop, turn back, let me through...

“And she didn’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes mentions of the following content which may be triggering. If you want more information, or to arrange an alternative to reading this chapter, please leave a comment below:  
> \- A relationship, implied to be romantic and/or sexual in nature, in which one of the participants is underage (15) and the other is above the age of consent (19).  
> \- Verbal abuse from a family member in a position of authority, including implied threats.  
> \- Characters participating in criminal activity and getting caught.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna finishes her story, and encounters an olive branch.

Retelling the story isn’t easy.

Parts of it are as clear as day, as though Anna is living it over again. She can still remember that summer in Bela’s house, the sunlight blindingly reflected from the hard surface of the dining room table. They only used the room for conversation, never to eat – Bela preferred restaurants or, if necessary, take-out. The most use the kitchen saw was cutting up salmon for Jezebel, the Siamese which used to leave dead birds on the doorstep and make Bela laugh by nevertheless demanding to be fed.

At the time, she had never seen how badly she fit in there. She had never found Bela’s life as fun as she pretended to. But admitting that had been nearly impossible when she didn’t have anywhere else to go. She had swallowed down every complaint, pretended that she didn’t see how Bela looked at Lilith, how her interests had become darker and her appetites more restless. Anna had ignored it all, and convinced herself that she could make it last forever.

Until it hadn’t.

Anna doesn’t remember much of the night when everything went wrong, but she has not forgotten a single detail of the moment when Bela glanced back at her, and kept running. She doubts that it will ever lose its sting entirely.

But thinking of it no longer fills her with that nauseous anxiety it once held for her, the roiling wave of remorse, resentment and rejection. The years which have passed have given her some perspective; she is older now than Bela was then. For all her endless composure, Bela was a girl with her own problems. If Anna had ever understood what they were, perhaps things would have ended differently between them.

Beside her, Jo releases a breath she has been holding for several minutes, and Anna meets her eye.

“I was arrested,” she continues. “I spent the night in a holding cell at the police station, and when they told me to call someone... I panicked. I was looking through the contacts in my phone, and every name seemed like the wrong choice. In the end, even though I had no idea if the number would still work, there was only one person I could bear to call: Gabriel.”

Anna smiles.

“He flew halfway across the country to come and pick me up. We hadn’t seen each other in a decade, but somehow he talked the company out of pressing charges and he brought me home with him.”

Anna trails off, distracted by the memory of those first few awkward months together. From what she could gather, Gabriel had spent the decade since he left the family home hopping from one state to the next, never staying long in any job. He hadn’t expected to have to take in a teenager, any more than she had expected to find him again.

But somehow, they had made it work. She had started drawing again, and begun working towards her G.E.D. A few months later, when the cafe Gabe was working at had come up for sale, he hadn’t wanted to leave. It had been Anna’s suggestion that they buy the cafe, and run it together.

“I think I can figure out the rest,” Jo says. “I guess everything worked out in the end.”

“I got lucky,” Anna tells her. “Without Gabe...”

She can’t even imagine where she might be.

“I guess you dialled the right number.” Jo smiles. “Sounds like Gabe was waiting for the call, if he kept the same number for so long.”

Anna blinks. She’s never considered that before, but the suggestion strikes her.

“Perhaps he was.”

A rush of affection sweeps through her. She wishes Gabriel were here.

“So, uh...” Jo says after a few moments. “Raphael?”

All that warmth freezes in Anna’s veins, and her stomach twists. It had felt so good to finally be talking about all this, to relieve the pressure of keeping the memories compressed, that she had almost forgotten why. The wound reopens, spilling out guilt as fresh as the day she had first left her brother’s home.

“Yes,” she says. “Raphael. I suppose – I left so quickly, that day. The argument was between me and Michael, no-one else. I suppose I hoped that perhaps the others... perhaps Raphael would be able to see things from my point of view. Apparently, I thought wrong.”

Anna flinches at the memory of her sister’s words: _You are not a part of this family. You’re a disgrace. Never call here again._

A confirmation of all she had feared: there is no way back for her. She thought she had accepted that her mistakes could not be undone; she hadn’t realised how much hope she still held until she felt it die.

“That’s too bad.”

Jo’s fingers brush against hers, and Anna grasps onto them, thankful for the contact.

“I mean,” Jo continues. “Gabe is your family, and he’s great. But it sucks that you can’t have more siblings around, if you want them. It sucks that you lost people.”

Anna breathes deep, letting some of her sorrow ebb away. She’s somehow surprised by Jo’s attempts to comfort her, as if she expected yet another attack. It’s soothing to know that someone else sees something in her situation which she recognises. Yeah, it sucks.

Jo shakes her head. “Sorry, I’m not good at this. I just meant that you don’t have to talk. Your voice must be tired, I can get you some –”

She pushes her chair back, but Anna squeezes her hand, tight, and Jo stops moving.

“Don’t,” Anna says. “You –”

The phone rings.

Jo tightens her grip until Anna can see the tendons pressing white against her knuckles. Anna looks into her eyes, and finds nothing but concern.

“You don’t have to answer that,” she says, levelly.

Jo is right. Anna could leave it to go to answerphone. She could ask Jo to answer for her. There are a thousand ways she could avoid this, and that’s what makes the decision for her.

“Yes, I do.”

Anna gets to her feet, feeling like she’s going to stumble, but in two steps her hand is on the phone again. She takes a moment to try to calm herself, to lower whatever expectations she might have. Raises the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

For several seconds, the person on the other end does not speak. Then, a familiar voice asks: “Anna?”

“Castiel? Is that you?”

“Are you alright?” her brother asks. “Where are you?”

“I’m fine, I’m with Gabriel, we’re both fine,” she answers in a rush. “Castiel, how are you? It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“It’s been years...” Castiel says. “I –”

He cuts off abruptly, and Anna holds her breath. Distantly, she hears someone else speaking on his end of the line – a man’s voice, but too muffled for her to be sure whose.

The call ends without warning.

Anna lowers the phone slowly, and turns back to Jo. Jo raises an eyebrow, questioning.

“He asked where I was,” Anna tells her, slowly. “He wanted to know if I was alright.”

“I got that,” Jo says. “Are you...?”

The corners of Anna’s mouth tug upwards. “He must have overheard Raphael... and he called me.”

“Anna?” Jo gets to her feet, looking concerned. Anna realises that she’s crying again, even as she starts to smile. She laughs at herself, and Jo takes an uncertain step forwards. Anna throws her arms around her, holding onto Jo tightly as she grins until she feels she will break from it.

“Castiel wanted to know if I was okay,” she echoes.

“Yeah, he did,” Jo says. “That’s good, right?”

“Better than I ever hoped for.”

“Good,” Jo repeats, and she doesn’t let go.

 

A little while later, Jo leaves. It takes several reassurances that Anna is alright to get her out the door, but before she goes, Anna holds her gaze for a moment before speaking.

“Thank you for the cake.”

“You’re welcome,” Jo replies, and knocking her on the arm. “Thanks for mine.”

Anna smiles, and doesn’t say anything else.

She doesn’t need to.

 

When Gabriel gets home, Anna greets him with a hug.

“You feeling alright, Annie?” he asks with a laugh.

“I love you,” she tells him. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Uh oh.” He raises an eyebrow. “What happened? Did you break something?”

“I never said thank you, did I?” she says. She’s been thinking about it since Jo left. “For bailing me out.”

“You didn’t have to.” Gabe’s expression turns serious. “Annie, what happened?”

“I called Raphael.”

Gabe grits his teeth, and shakes his head. “Annie...” It’s almost a plea, even though it comes far too late.

“It didn’t go well,” she says.

“Big sis was never exactly the forgiving type,” he mutters. “So, how bad was it?”

“About twice as bad as you’re thinking,” Anna says, and Gabe winces.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” He glances at her. “How are you holding up?”

Anna considers it. “I think I’m okay. It wasn’t easy, but... it reminded me how glad I am to be here. With you.”

“Don’t make me blush,” he says.

“And...” Anna continues. “Something else happened. Castiel called.”

Gabriel blinks. “Well. Look who’s full of surprises. So, how’s baby bro doing?”

“We didn’t talk for long,” she explains. “He hung up on me... it sounded like Michael might have overheard.”

Gabe’s face grows dark with anger for a moment.

“But he has the number. I told him I was with you.” She pauses. “I was wondering if we could change the answerphone message? We are out for most of the day...”

Gabe smirks, and puts on a high-pitched voice: “If you are an estranged relative, please press the hash key, and a representative will be available shortly. Remember, we care about your call.”

Anna snorts and rolls her eyes. “Or maybe we could put our mobile numbers in the message?”

“You going to start keeping your phone charged?” he teases.

“Yes.”

“Wow, this must be serious.” He smiles. “Yes, fine, go do it now. Clear off and let me take my shoes off.”

Anna beams at him. “Already did it. I just wanted to let you know.”

Gabe sighs. “Remind me why I keep you around again?”

“Because you’re my brother, and you love me.”

“Yeah,” he says. “But why else?”

“There’s a strawberry sponge on the table.”

He smirks, and throws an arm around her shoulders.

“See, Annie. I knew there was something!”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo's birthday arrives, and she has her own tradition to celebrate.

Jo has a lot of thinking to do when she gets home from Anna’s.

It isn’t until she steps foot out the door that she has a chance to react to everything she’s heard. Back in Anna’s kitchen, all her attention had been on what her friend needed – all she had to do was listen. What she felt didn’t matter, so she had kept it quiet.

Stepping outside lifts that weight from her, lets the air back into her lungs. It isn’t freeing, though. Jo is burning, ice cold with rage.

She is angry at everyone – Michael, Lilith, Raphael, Bela. She might even have a few sharp words for Gabriel if Anna’s hurt didn’t seem to soothe at the thought of him. But the strangers – them, she _hates_.

Beautiful, faceless Bela Talbot has twisted her up inside, the cold, unforgiving brother and sister have filled her with poison fumes. In her mind’s eye, their eyes are obsidian black, as untouchable as their hearts.

She wants to scream at them, or perhaps whisper in their ears: _didn’t you know what you were doing? Did you not see that you were hurting her, or did you just not care?_

Strangest of all, Jo is angry at herself. It makes no sense – she didn’t know about any of this before today, there was nothing she could have done. Even if she’d known Anna back then, it was years ago. She was just a kid.

Older than Anna was, though. She remembers that, and it all sounds like excuses. It might be pointless, but she hates that she came into this too late to do anything but hear about it. She wishes there was some way she could fix things, turn back the clock so that no-one had ever cut into Anna’s heart.

Only, she thinks if she did, Anna might hate her for it even worse than Jo hates this.

That eats at her more than anything.

 

Later that night – much later – Jo thinks to herself, Anna has an ex- _girl_ friend.

It feels wrong to be noticing that, out of everything they spoke about today, but she can’t help noticing anyway.

She doesn’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’s _something_.

 

It’s Jo’s birthday two days later. Since the big party isn’t until the weekend, she doesn’t do much. There’s a present from mom and Bobby on the counter to open when she gets in, and another that came in the post from Stanford, but when she’s on the bus back, the first thing she does is text Dean.

“Usual place?” she types. “Be there by 6.”

It’s six oh three when she lets herself onto the roof of the Roadhouse.

“You’re late,” Dean’s voice calls.

“So were you,” she says back.

As she turns the corner, he tosses a bottle of beer at her.

“Last one,” he says. “Next year, you get to start buying them for me.”

“It wasn’t me who started this tradition,” she points out.

“Yeah, but Sammy’s paid me back already,” he shrugs. “You’ve got a long way to go, squirt.”

“You’re demanding beer on my birthday?” she asks, sitting beside him. “Jerk.”

He chuckles at the childhood jibe, and shoots back: “Dumbass.”

She laughs, and cracks open the bottle to take a drink.

For a couple of minutes, neither of them speak. She glances Dean’s way a couple of times, but he’s never looking at her.

“You miss Sam, right?” she asks.

“Well, yeah.” Dean scoffs at her questioning the obvious.

She shakes her head. “I mean, don’t you worry about him? For all we know, he could be getting his ass kicked right now, and we’re hundreds of miles away, drinking beer.”

“You’re cheerful today,” Dean comments. “I don’t know. Yeah, sometimes. But Sammy’s got his head on straight. If he got in real trouble, he’d give me a call.”

“What if he didn’t?” she presses. “What if he thought he could handle it by himself? He could go and get his heart broken and you’d never know ‘til it was too late. Doesn’t that piss you off?”

He looks at her sidelong.

“Is this about me and Gabriel?” he asks eventually.

She laughs, seeing his mistake.

“No, seriously,” he says. “Is this because me and him...”

“Made out in a closet like horny teenagers?” Jo finishes for him.

“I thought that was meant to be a prank?” Dean reminds her.

She laughs. “You want to tell me it was?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Okay, so maybe it’s happened more than once,” he says. “Look, the guy’s changed, okay? Maybe he isn’t a total dick any more.”

“Try not to sound too enthusiastic.”

Dean rolls his eyes.

“Look, it’s not like I have a problem with it.” Jo shrugs. “Gabe seems like a good enough guy to me. It’s your business.” She glances at him. “I’m not going to tell anyone, either. Not if you don’t want me to.”

“Thanks.” He scrubs a hand over his eyes. “I guess I’ll have to say something soon, but... It’s bad enough he’s Sammy’s ex without the whole...”

He shifts uncomfortably.

“Yeah,” Jo says. “I get it.”

Dean looks up at her sharply. “Oh, so this is about _Anna_.”

She’s stunned into silence for a moment, and that’s enough for Dean to break into a grin.

“I freaking _knew_ it!”

“Was it that obvious?” She sighs.

“Did you ever think me and Gabe was a prank?” he counters. “Come on, the way you two look at each other... When did it happen?”

She snorts. “It didn’t.”

His smile deflates a little. “Really?”

“I think I’d remember,” she replies. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t think she’s interested.”

“Five bucks says you’re wrong.”

Jo rolls her eyes. “I’m not taking your money. It’s been – what? Six months? – and nothing.”

And given everything Anna’s told her, Jo wouldn’t blame her if she’d sworn off dating for good.

“I’m pretty sure it’s never going to happen,” she concludes.

“Six months, and you still haven’t made a move?” Dean asks.

“Well, I thought I was...”

“Yeah, but now...” He shrugs. “Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Hey,” Jo says suddenly. “Did you hear that Cassie’s back in town?”

Dean pulls a face. “Low blow. But yeah, almost a year ago now. She stopped by to let me know when she first moved back.”

“She’s working at the paper,” Jo tells him. “Professor Barnes – you know, Pam – reckons I should talk to her about majoring in Journalism.”

Dean smiles. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Jo shrugs. “I mean, I’ve gotta pick something, right?”

“No, I can see it.” He nods. “Jo Harvelle, intrepid reporter. Travelling the country to report on the latest story.”

There’s a light in his eyes as though it’s right in front of him – her, in the future, some hotshot journalist who’s worth being impressed by. But if that future is real, it’s invisible to Jo.

“I don’t know,” she says. “It would probably mean more studying after I’m done here, like it did for Cassie. And what about the Roadhouse?”

“What about it?” Dean asks. “Are you really telling me you want to be stuck behind that bar for the rest of your life?”

She shrugs. Perhaps she doesn’t, but – her mom and dad opened that bar decades ago. It seems wrong to just abandon it.

And who’s to say she could even get into a decent college? Sam’s the brains of the family. She’s always just scraped through.

Dean catches her expression. “I hate to say this, but school isn’t the worst thing in the world. Just think, in a few years you could be off to some smart job in the city, and too good to talk to your no-good broke-ass older brother.”

She snorts. “Yeah, right. By the time I graduate, you’re going to be a respectable business owner.”

“You think?”

She stares at him. “You already half-run the shop. How much longer do you think it’s going to be before Bobby hands you the keys and takes permanent residence at the bar beside Rufus?”

Dean ducks his head, but he’s smiling. “You really think the old man knows when to quit?”

“Maybe not.” Jo smiles, and they fall into silence for a while, sipping beer and watching the clouds drift slowly above them.

 Dean speaks first.

“Got you something.” He grabs the lumpy parcel, bundled in newsprint and red ribbon, and thrusts in into her hands. She unties the ribbon carefully, knotting it around her wrist before tearing into the paper.

It’s a camera, clunky and old-fashioned, the kind which takes real film and prints out the picture as you take it.

“I knew how much you liked taking the photos for that project, and I know you had to borrow the camera from school, so...”

She turns it over in her hands a couple of times, then points it at Dean. It clicks and whirs loudly in her hands, and in a few seconds, his image is fading into existence between her fingers.

“Awesome.”

Dean shrugs. “Don’t get too excited. I found it in Bobby’s attic. For all I know, a racoon’s pooped on it.”

“Great.” She laughs. “Well, I love it. Racoon poop and all.”

“Yeah well,” he looks down. “Sorry for being so cheap. But I’m trying to save up, cause... I’ve been thinking of finding my own place.”

Jo looks up at him, a smile slowly spreading over her face. “Really?”

“Don’t get too excited,” he says. “It’s only a maybe.”

She shakes the Polaroid between her fingers.

“Respectable business owner,” she repeats.

Dean raises his eyebrows and gives her a pointed look. “Yeah, and you’re not cut out to be a journalist.”

She laughs.

“Hey Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll pay you back for this beer after I win a Pulitzer.”

“No you won’t.”

Jo laughs harder.

“No, I won’t.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna attends her and Jo's birthday party at the Roadhouse.

Anna is anxious about the party that weekend.

At Jo’s insistence, Gabriel is coming too, and she’s even invited Ruby and Meg, but it’s still going to be largely Jo’s family and friends who are present – and Anna doesn’t exactly have the best history with the Roadhouse. She can’t help but wonder what will go wrong this time, and how mortifying it will be.

Instead, the moment she steps through the door, she’s greeted by a camera flash.

“Anna!” Jo lowers the camera with a grin. “It’s about time!”

Anna smiles back. “That’s new. Birthday present?”

“From Dean.” Jo grabs the photo as it’s printing out. “You want it? I’m just practising.”

Anna examines the image. She’s turned away from the lens, laughing at something Gabriel had said as they walked in together. The girl in the picture doesn’t seem nervous – she doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Don’t I get one?” Gabe asks.

“Don’t worry,” Jo tells him. “I’m sure you’re perfect material for candids. But I’d better introduce you guys to everyone first. Come on, they’re round back.”

She holds out a hand, and Anna takes it. That’s when she notices the leather bracelet on Jo’s wrist – the same one Anna handed her in a box on Tuesday morning.

“You’re wearing it,” she says.

“What?” Jo glances back, and sees what she’s looking at. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Anna shrugs, not sure she has an answer, and lets Jo lead her up to the bar.

There are several people her own age around – presumably, friends of Jo’s from college or high school – but the ‘everyone’ Anna is introduced to are older. She struggles to remember names, but they all seem to want to give her the once over. Most don’t make any effort to hide the fact that they’re judging her.

Fortunately, she is generally agreed to be acceptable. Gabriel receives a couple of frowns, probably from people who remember his last visit, but once Dean appears, slapping Gabe on the back and calling him “an old friend of Sam’s”, he gets a pass too.

“Last but not least, Bobby Singer.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr Singer.”

Bobby looks surprised. “Where’d you find this one?”

“Bobby isn’t used to manners,” Jo says, laughing.

He snorts. “Only since I gave up trying to drill them into your fool head.” He sizes Anna up. “I’ve heard a lot about you, girl. You and that brother of yours going to make trouble for my kids?”

“I don’t intend to, Mr Singer,” Anna says.

“Good,” he says. “Don’t let this one drag you into any, either.”

Jo pulls her away. “Don’t worry. The old man’s like this with everyone.”

“I’m not deaf yet, Jo!” he calls after them.

“Don’t I know it,” she call back with a grin.

He grumbles and turns back to the bar.

“I think he likes you,” Jo mutters with a wicked smile.

Anna can’t tell if she’s kidding or not.

 

More people filter into the bar slowly, and although the room is never crowded, it’s visibly busy. After a couple of hours, Meg and Ruby have arrived – stylishly late, as they always are – and a few adventurous people have joined them dancing near the jukebox in the corner.

Anna’s been steering well clear of the dance floor. She’s at a table in the corner, discussing philosophy with a guy called Andy.

“What I mean is, nature or nurture – it doesn’t matter. What makes a difference is what parts can still change.”

Anna purses her lips. “Don’t you think that a person can overcome their own nature?”

“Well, sometimes,” he admits. “But only if overcoming it is in their nature to start with –”

“Now you’re just moving the goalposts,” Anna says. “A change can be prompted by anything. You can’t claim those events were always inherent in their natures.”

“Perhaps not, but – hey, Ash.”

“Hey babe.” The bartender slides onto the bench seat next to Andy and puts an arm around his waist. “And birthday girl. Nice party.”

“It’s all Jo,” Anna insists. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Just clocked off so I finally get to enjoy it.” He smiles, and leans close to Andy. “You want to...”

Anna doesn’t hear the rest over the music, but she can tell that this conversation is one which doesn’t require her.

She gets to her feet. “I’m going to get another drink...”

Andy shoots her an apologetic look, but a moment later, he’s laughing at something Ash has said in his ear, and Anna is forgotten.

She walks slowly across the room, wondering what to do with herself now. She had been enjoying talking to Andy, but she doesn’t mind being set aside for his boyfriend. She just hopes she can find someone else to talk to who isn’t already with someone.

“Hey, there you are!”

Jo emerges from one of the doors behind the bar, carrying a collection of bottles. She pauses to arrange them on one of the shelves, and then slips around the bar to join Anna.

“I always get roped into helping out at these things,” she mutters. “How’s your night been so far?”

“It’s been great.” Anna smiles. “I just left Andy and Ash...” She trails off, not sure how much she should say.

“Committing a health code violation?” Jo asks. “Yeah, they get that way sometimes... I see Meg and Ruby are here.”

Anna laughs. “Yeah, I invited them.”

“They sure love dancing, don’t they?” Jo observes, but her voice is soft, almost wistful.

Anna follows her gaze to the dance floor, and decides to take a risk.

“Would you like to dance?”

“What?” Jo blinks, her attention back on Anna in a moment. “With you? I thought you didn’t like dancing.”

“I’ve been known to try it occasionally,” Anna tells her. “You only turn twenty once, right?”

“Well, that’s true enough,” Jo says. “Well then. Since it’s our birthdays.”

Her words are reluctant, but her smile tells a different story.

They make their way over to the jukebox, but just as they arrive, a new song starts playing. A slow one. The other dancers begin to pair up, or drift off the floor.

“Oh,” Jo says. “We can wait, if –”

“No,” Anna tells her. “I said I’d dance with you, didn’t I?”

She takes Jo’s hand, and puts the other on her shoulder.

“That is, if you don’t mind...?”

Jo takes a step towards her, and rests a hand lightly on Anna’s waist. The brush of her fingers through thin cotton sends shivers over her skin, almost ticklish. Anna finds that she is holding her breath.

Jo’s face is only inches away, and when she chuckles, just once, Anna feels it in her own belly. She presses forwards, and Jo moves back, and then they’re dancing.

They don’t talk. Anna isn’t sure she’s capable of conversation; swaying on the spot has become an unexpected challenge. She is constantly distracted, hyper-aware of the tiniest sensations: the rub of Jo’s knee against her own on each step, the faint citrus scent which lingers in her hair, the huff of breath on Anna’s neck each time their eyes meet.

She barely hears the music playing. It doesn’t seem important. So it takes her by surprise when she registers, just on the edge of hearing, a tune in the back of Jo’s throat. She’s humming along.

“And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might...”

Anna watches her lips shape the words, and she cannot look away. She wants to say something, she wants to stay like this forever, she wants... she _wants_. She has always understood that, and never until now, with Jo’s skin pressed warm against her own, a smooth strip of leather pressed between their wrists.

Her head spins with the thought of it. The air seems as thin as the line between what is and what could be. The possibility spirals through her, as though that last small space between them is nothing at all. It would be so easy to...

“Baby, I can’t fight this feeling any more.”

This is wrong. She doesn’t know what she’s capable of any more – she’s losing her inhibitions, everything which tells her what’s _right_. She’s getting carried away. She doesn’t even know if Jo would want this – she might not even be single. Anna’s seen her with a guy before.

Anna stumbles, trying to force herself to keep dancing, to smile. Her hand is shaking on Jo’s shoulder, and each breath feels like a battle.

“Are you okay?” Jo asks.

“I’m a little warm,” Anna says. It isn’t a lie. The room feels hot, her skin burning everywhere she and Jo touch. She steps back. “I think I should go and get some air.”

“Do you want me to come too?”

“No, thank you.” She has to get a hold of herself. Jo is her _friend_. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Anna walks away, her heart pounding with every step. Jo doesn’t follow her.

 

The evening air is cool, but Anna is still flushed and dizzy as she leans against the wall. She takes deep breaths, and tries to think sensibly about this, but she can’t quiet the spinning train of “I can’t want this, I have to stop, I _can’t_.”

She hates feeling so panicked, hates not knowing what to do. But what she wants – it’s wrong, it must be. So why can’t she think of anything else?

Her head pounds with the echoes of that dance. Her ears are ringing. There’s a beeping...

Belatedly, she recognises her ring tone.

She fumbles in her pocket for the phone, checks the screen. The number isn’t one she recognises. She frowns, and answers it.

“Anna?”

“Castiel.” She smiles at the sound of his voice, then remembers where she is. “It’s late. Are you alright?”

“How much do you remember about when we were young?”

“About as much as you do, I expect.” She frowns. “You didn’t call in the middle of the night to reminisce about our shared childhood. What is it?”

“I think I need some advice.” He sounds concerned. “I was – I didn’t know who else to ask.”

Anna’s heart begins to race for an entirely different reason. “What’s wrong? Castiel, tell me.”

For a few seconds, her mind races. Almost anything could have happened to Castiel in the last few years. If he’s in trouble – what is she going to do?

Then Castiel says the last thing she expected.

“It’s Lucifer. He’s back.”

A chill runs down Anna’s back.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Bonus song for this chapter](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd4j1Ms1VYE).


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo goes looking for Anna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're enjoying this story, you should check out [the amazing fanart](http://tubbie11.tumblr.com/post/62231481801/i-dont-know-if-you-like-the-pair-or-not-but-if-u) drawn by Tumblr user tubbie11! Thank you so much for the cute drawing of Jo and Anna hanging out. :D
> 
> You might also be interested in the [AO3 census survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lh_W-fXF37V7-VHFjIpg8OoEiL7EZzzqj_ooIIkhM0I/viewform) that I am running this week. I am hoping to get 10,000 responses on the demographics of AO3 users - I'm only about halfway there, so I'd love it if you could please participate and reblog the [Tumblr post](http://centrumlumina.tumblr.com/post/62183073170/ao3-census-2013) to spread the word.
> 
> Oh, and the perceptive among you might spot that this fic is now confirmed at 32 chapters total. Only 5 more to go...

Jo’s not entirely sure what just happened.

She and Anna were dancing, and everything seemed fine. Better than fine, actually. More or less perfect.

Then Anna bolted from the room as though it was on fire.

Jo feels like a fool, standing on the dance floor surrounded by couples. She moves away from the jukebox again, towards the bar, but close enough that Anna should find her easy when she comes back in.

 _If_ she comes back in.

Jo scowls at the sudden change in her mood, but two minutes ago she was dancing with a beautiful girl and now she’s been left alone in a crowd. It’s hard not to wonder if that’s her fault.

She feels like she must have crossed a line. Even if Anna really did feel too hot – she was a little flushed – well, Jo knew she didn’t like dancing that much. Shouldn’t she have noticed that her partner wasn’t having fun?

But apparently not. She was too caught up in her own enjoyment: her favourite song playing, letting herself pretend that their dance could be something more. For a minute there, it hadn’t even felt like pretending.

She took her eye off the ball. She let Anna down.

Speaking of Anna, shouldn’t she be back by now?

Jo glances around the room. The REO Speedwagon track has ended, replaced by something more upbeat. She glances around, but there’s no sign of Anna anywhere on this side of the bar.

She decides to move. Anna asked her not to follow, and she’ll respect that, but it’s more than possible her friend has gotten turned around in here. Jo does a quick circuit of the room, trying not to be too obvious about peering into every corner. Her heart lifts briefly at every head of red hair, but none of them are Anna’s.

She goes to stand by the dance floor again, but still no sign. After a few more minutes, she takes her second tour of the room.

It’s been at least fifteen minutes. It’s late, and she didn’t take a jacket. She can’t have stayed out this long.

So where is she?

“Jo.”

Jo glances sideways at Ruby, who greets her with a nod. “Happy birthday and all that.”

“Thanks,” Jo answers automatically. “Glad you could make it.” She hesitates for a moment, but there’s no better person to ask: “You seen Anna everywhere?”

“Not since you were dancing with her,” Ruby smirks. “Why? Don’t tell me Angel has flown the coop.”

The nickname grates on Jo even more than it used to. Before, it was just one of Ruby’s annoying little quirks – now, it feels like Ruby is casually tossing out one of Anna’s biggest regrets.

“Shut up.” Jo walks away quickly. There have to be more places she can look.

She’s so concerned with eyeballing everyone in here that she almost walks straight into Dean.

“Hey!” He grins. “How’s it going?”

“Have you seen Anna?” she asks. “Or Gabriel?” After all, Anna doesn’t know many people here; if she’s not with Ruby...

“Not for an hour or so,” he says. “Why? What’s the emergency?”

“Never mind.” Jo turns to keep walking, but Dean catches her arm.

“Talk to me. You alright? You look like you could use a drink.”

“What, a damn lemonade?”

She’s been half-tempted to sneak a beer all night, but now she’d rather go for a shot of whiskey or three. No chance of getting away with it tonight – everyone in the place knows she’s underage.

Would help quiet the worries in her head, though.

“Yeah, a damn lemonade,” Dean snaps back, pushing her in the direction of the bar. “At least sit down. You look ready to pass out.”

Jo wishes.

But she grabs a stool anyway. Being on her feet isn’t getting her anywhere.

“What happened?” Dean asks. “Did you guys have another fight?”

Jo shrugs. “Said she’d be back soon, and it’s been close to half an hour. So... you tell me.”

“You talking about that Anna girl?” Rufus asks next to her. “The one with the red hair and the shortass brother who thinks he’s a comedian?”

“That’s the one,” Jo says. “You seem ‘em?”

“Looked like they left already,” he says. “She rushed in here looking serious, said something to him, and they both rushed out. Any idea what that was about?”

Dean and Jo look at each other.

“Maybe they’ve got something to do tomorrow,” Dean suggests.

“Or Anna’s come down with something.” Jo frowns. “She said she felt a little warm. Maybe it was worse than she thought.”

“Mystery solved,” Rufus declares. “Now you two can stop yammering about it.”

Jo isn’t convinced. If she did do something to make Anna uncomfortable, perhaps she asked Gabe to take her home. But if that’s the case, running after her isn’t going to do Jo any favours.

“Yeah,” she says. “Problem solved.”

 

Anna and Jo had no plans to see each other on Sunday. It’s not unusual for the day to pass without them seeing each other at all. But this Sunday feels wrong, as though an infection has caught in the air, festering in between the hours.

Jo can’t stop worrying her new leather bracelet, rubbing it back and forth across her wrist until friction scores a red line across her skin. She’s always had that habit with jewellery, but she’s worn this one five days without problem. She can’t bring herself to take it off now, even as it’s rubbing her raw.

By mid-afternoon, the rising warmth of the coming summer makes it impossible to focus on her books. Jo paces across town, long strides carrying her in no particular direction. She passes along the empty high street, then up towards the park, only to take a sudden turn back into the sprawling tangle of residential streets.

She finds herself on Anna’s doorstep. No-one answers the doorbell, and Gabriel’s car is not on the drive. There are a thousand places they could be.

She tugs twice at her bracelet, and turns back towards home.

 

The next morning, the cafe is closed.

Jo stands under the awning, blinking at the sign on the locked door. There’s no explanation, no note or apology in Gabe’s scrawled handwriting. Long shadows stretch out across the empty glass cases on the counter.

Jo isn’t the only one to pause, but she is the only one to stop and stare. Bile rises in the back of her throat. What happened? Is Anna seriously – no, if she was ill, she would have been home yesterday. Unless it was bad enough that she needed to go to the hospital...

Anything could have happened. Gabe could have sold up shop to go into stand-up, Anna could have skipped town and eloped to Vegas, they both could have crashed the car into a ditch somewhere –

Jo’s hand is on her phone before she realises that she never actually got Anna’s number. It hadn’t seemed necessary. They had always known where to find each other.

Until now.

There’s a loud rumble behind her – the bus to college, grinding to a halt at the stop. Early, for once. If she walks away now, she will make it to class on time.

Jo turns down the high street, and kicks off at a run.

 

“Hey!”

The figure flashes past Jo’s vision before she registers the voice and forces herself to a halt. If anyone in this town knows where Anna is, it’s Ruby.

“Where’s the fire?” Ruby demands.

“Anna’s gone.” Jo pants. “Cafe’s shut. Not seen her since the party. She could be _anywhere_.”

“What?” Ruby does a double take. “Really?”

“Angel has flown the damn coop,” Jo spits. “For all I know, she and Gabe have skipped town. It’s not like it would be the first time.”

Ruby rolls her eyes. “Please.”

“Don’t act like you _know_ –”

“I _know_ ,” Ruby snaps back. “Angel wouldn’t skip town without telling –”

“You?”

“ _You_.”

Ruby shakes her head. “Do you still not get it? The way she looks at you... when she leaves this town, you’re going to be the first to hear about it. The _first_.”

Jo realises she’s shaking. She backs away a couple of steps, turning back in the direction she was going.

“You can run after her all you want,” Ruby says. “But trust me, she’s not gone anywhere.”

Jo takes off again, her heartbeat jumping like an old record.

 

Gabriel’s car still isn’t there.

Jo rings the doorbell. She knocks. She pounds on the door loud enough to wake the dead, and there’s not a murmur in response. No-one is home.

Ruby was wrong.

Wherever the two of them are, it isn’t here.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna goes back.

The next morning finds a sleepless Anna standing guard over two carry-on bags, while Gabriel flirts, cajoles and begs his way into a couple of last minute tickets. She dozes off in her seat about fifteen minutes after takeoff, and wakes with a crick in her neck when the plane lands.

Then they flag down a taxi, and Gabe gives a very familiar address, and she is jolted into full alertness.

“When we get there, Annie – try to lay low,” Gabriel tells her. “I know it’s not in your nature...”

“Gabe –”

“But try,” he finishes with a hurried smile.

“I’m not going to let you do this alone,” she tells him.

His expression turns steely. “Anna. This isn’t safe. You don’t remember –”

“I remember enough.”

She remembers hiding in a closet with Castiel, her head buried in a winter coat, and hearing a familiar voice say: “Hey, kiddos, let’s play a game of who can be the quietest!” She once watched the blood running down Gabriel’s face and dripping onto the grave-bright grass. Perhaps she had been too young to know why they had been shouting, but she was old enough to taste the fear in the back of her throat.

“I’m not letting you go do this without someone to watch your back.”

She stares him in the eye, waiting for him to argue, but he just shakes his head.

“I get it,” he says. “Nothing is going to stop you jumping in if you think you need to. But don’t give them any ammo, okay?”

She rolls her eyes. “I assure you, I’ll be careful.”

“I know.” Gabe reaches across the seat and nudges her. “Be more careful.”

She glances across at him, and the weight of what they’re rushing towards feels unbearable. There’s so much she never asked about what happened all those years ago, and now it’s too late. She’s going in blind.

Then Gabe waggles his eyebrows, and she can breathe again.

“I will,” she promises. “You’d better be too.”

 

They text Castiel that they’re nearby, and he meets them by the back door when they arrive.

“Gabriel,” he says, stiffly. “Anna.”

“Castiel.”

It seems wrong to be so staid after so long apart, but Anna doesn’t know what else to say. _I missed you, I’m sorry, I want to make things right. I should have done better._ There are a thousand things she wants to say, but this isn’t the time or the place for any of it. So she’s left with a single, longing word, one that says nothing and far too much.

Seeing him – being here – feels like broken glass in her heart, grinding itself back down to sand. Pain, but also a strange kind of release. This is her second chance, and she _will_ do better.

“What’s the situation?” Gabriel asks, all business.

“He came back this morning,” Castiel answers. “They’re in Michael’s office –”

Without a second’s pause, Gabriel strides deeper into the house, and Anna rushes after him.

She keeps her eyes trained on Gabriel, trying to ignore the familiar surroundings, but every glance is a rush of _bringing home report cards day off school sick Thanksgiving dinners sneaking off to Bela’s playing house with Rachel_ that echoes in her head like an accusation.

“I apologise for calling you out here so suddenly,” Castiel says, sounding harried. “I didn’t mean to –”

“It’s alright,” Anna tells him. “You needed help.”

“I could repay you for the travelling ex-”

“No.” Gabriel speaks in unison with Anna, his voice flat while hers is insistent. Money might not be a factor they can completely disregard any more, but no matter how tight things were, they wouldn’t ask payment for this.

At the bottom of the staircase, Gabriel turns on his heel to face them, and Anna realises that Michael’s office is almost within sight.

“I can take it from here,” he says, with a pointed look at Anna. If she wants to demand to follow, this is her last chance. Strangely enough, she believes if she pressed her case now, he would concede.

She sighs. “Good luck.”

“Who needs luck?” he asks with a wink, and then he’s gone.

Anna grips Castiel by the cuff of his shirt, and leads him around the side of the hallway, less obviously in the view of anyone passing by. It doesn’t seem likely there will be anyone to see them. The house is unusually silent, even in comparison to the muffled quiet which usually resides within its thick walls.

“Are you certain -?” Castiel murmurs.

“We aren’t taking your money,” she repeats. “You’re family. Besides, don’t you have student loans to pay by now?”

He furrows his brow slightly. “I haven’t spent my inheritance quite so quickly.”

Anna pauses. “Your inheritance?”

“Yes, the trust fund from our father I inherited -” His expression softens suddenly. “When I turned eighteen.”

Anna blinks. She knew Gabriel had inherited some money in their father’s will, but she hadn’t known there was any inheritance left for her, hadn’t heard about any trust funds. But then, she wouldn’t have. She was the oldest, and far from eighteen when she left.

Is it still hers? she wonders. She was disinherited, in a fashion, but only after the will had been made. She doesn’t know what the law would be. She doesn’t know if she has any right to it.

She is hardly the daughter her father expected her to grow to be.

_A disgrace._

The memory of those words is a lead weight in her stomach. Michael and Raphael don’t think she deserves this money. Did they even look for her? She doubts it. After all, she’s _not a part of this family_.

So what do they think of Gabriel?

Anna is halfway up the stairs before she knows it. She glances down to see Castiel, watching her through the banisters. For a moment, she expects him to say something, try to stop her, but he only stares up at her, expression unreadable. Perhaps her memory is playing tricks, or perhaps he has changed since they knew each other. After all, would the girl who left this house have turned away from that look, and continued walking?

She steps on the landing just as the door to Michael’s study swings closed – Gabriel must have hesitated, or perhaps chosen his moment. Anna hurries over to the door and presses her ear against it. She respects Gabe’s desire to keep her out of this, but she has to know if he needs her.

“Looks like a family reunion!” Gabriel declares, loudly. “Guess my invite got lost in the post.”

There are a few seconds of silence.

“Brother,” an unfamiliar voice – presumably, Lucifer’s – says. “How nice of you to join us.”

“Gabriel,” Michael says, sounding weary. “What are you doing here? This doesn’t concern you. How did you get into the house?”

“Through the door!” Gabe answers. “And as for why – well, I heard Luci was back in town. I figured I should join the party.”

“See, Michael?” Lucifer says. “You can’t shut us out forever. We deserve a place in this family. Gabriel, I’m so glad you have finally seen my point of view.”

Gabriel laughs. “Luce, I love the ego, but I am _so_ not here for you.”

“You think _he_ is going to do what’s right for this family?” Lucifer’s voice is cold and mocking. “Do you even know what he did to me?”

“The restraining order was –”

“A betrayal,” Lucifer interrupts Michael. “You cast out your own brother. And you did it in the name of all your siblings – even yours, Gabriel.”

“I know,” Gabe snaps. “Why do you think I left? I looked for you, you know. You’re hard to track down, but I heard some stories. What is it you said you do again?”

“Business,” Lucifer says.

“A racketeer,” Michael says, coldly. “A violent thug, a disgrace to the family name –”

“As if you have the right to lecture me about morality after what you –”

“Shut. Up!” Gabriel tells them both. “You are my brothers, and I love you, but you are such dicks. I’m not here for Mikey either. Whatever old argument you two have dredged up as an excuse to tear each other another set of new ones – I’m over it!”

Another silence.

“Then why are you here, Gabriel?” Michael asks.

“For my family,” Gabe tells him. “You know, for as much as you loved dad, you did a piss-poor job of filling his shoes. Do you even remember that you have other siblings? I’m here for _them_ , Michael.”

“You mean the brats?” Lucifer asks.

“Our brothers and sisters,” Gabriel corrects him.

“ _Half_.”

Anna shivers as she realises Lucifer and Michael spoke at the same time.

“So one of them called you...” Michael says.

“You see, Michael?” Lucifer asks. “Our rightful place is within this house. You cannot keep us out any longer.”

“After what you did...” Michael’s voice is very quiet, barely audible. “Lucifer, you can never come back.”

“But you can’t keep me away,” Lucifer tells him. “Not if you want to keep your little windfall.”

“That money is rightfully mine.”

“Then why didn’t you call your lawyer as soon as I arrived?” Lucifer questions. “It is a part of our father’s estate, and I have a right to an equal claim. One phone call, and I could end you. I don’t want to, brother, but I will.”

“You were disinherited,” Michael tells him. “You had no right to what you have already received. I let you keep it, out of sentiment. But this time – brother, I cannot let you take any more. Do not force me to fight you.”

“I must,” Lucifer answers. “Drop the restraining order, and let me return home, or I will take what has been left unclaimed. There is no other choice.”

Late, far too late, the penny drops. A part of their father’s estate, left unclaimed.

They’re fighting over _her_ trust fund.

Michael must have taken the money for his own, and Lucifer is demanding a share. The idea spreads through her mind like acid. They have taken what is hers, and they are using it to hurt her family.

And who can stop them? Raphael doesn’t seem to care, and Gabriel’s knowledge of this decades-old rivalry is useless without the fact she learned five minutes ago. Who else is left to intervene?

There’s Anna.

She shoves open the door.

“I have an alternative,” she announces. “You could give me the damn money.”

 

The room falls silent.

Gabriel looks resigned to her presence, perhaps even a little grateful. Lucifer – a sandy-haired man whose face she barely recognises – is watching her with unconcealed interest. And Michael – Michael is sat at his desk.

Being back in this room stirs a lot of memories, perhaps more than anywhere else in the house. Being summoned to Michael’s office had been the worst thing which could happen to her as a child – it was the place where reprimands were issued, and punishments doled out. The last time she saw Michael at his desk, she had heard him say that she was barely worthy of her own name, and felt like she was three inches tall.

Not this time, though. Now, she has grown.

“Why,” Lucifer says suddenly. “I do believe little Anael is all grown up.”

“Lucifer,” she says. “Please leave. Michael and I have business to discuss.”

He smiles. “I think I would prefer to stay.”

“And I would prefer to exercise the restraining order Michael took out in my name and have you arrested,” Anna tells him. “No matter what blackmail material you may have on Michael.”

“Sister, you wound me.” Lucifer smirks. “Would you really call the police on your own brother?”

“ _Half_ ,” she snaps. “I believe you were the first person to tell me that was the case. You never counted any of us as family unless it served your purposes, and you enjoyed making sure we lived in fear of you. So yes, I think I would.”

He tries to stare her down with eye the colour of ice, but she meets his gaze levelly.

He turns on his heel, and slams the door as he leaves.

“Now,” Anna says, turning back to Michael, whose look is just as cold. “I would like to claim control of the funds you have held in trust for me.”

“Yours?” Gabe asks. “I thought that money had gone on raising you.”

“Apparently not,” Anna says. “But it hasn’t gone to me either. I suppose perhaps you couldn’t find me –”

“Oh, he knew where you were,” Gabriel says. “I told him the day I took you in. Asked why he hadn’t picked you up when the police phoned him...”

Anna tries not to breathe too loudly.

Gabe trails off, looking regretful. Anna can read in his eyes: _I thought you knew_. She doesn’t know why this surprises her. She was a minor; of course they called her guardian. And Michael...

“You’re a petty criminal,” he sneers. “You chose to walk away from this family, and now you come back demanding –”

“What’s mine,” Anna cuts him off. “I was sixteen! I made a mistake. You might have driven me out of this house, but my parents loved me, and you don’t have the power to take what they left for me.”

Michael leans forwards. “Don’t I?”

He smiles like the CEO he is, a ruthless curve of his lips which promises as many lawyers as money can buy.

“Not if I go after Lucifer now,” Anna promises. “And ask him to help me take you down.”

She expects a dismissal – something like “you wouldn’t dare” – but Michael watches her carefully.

“You wouldn’t be able to trust him,” Gabriel reminds her, quietly.

“For the money?” she clarifies. “No, I expect I wouldn’t.”

She makes a point of meeting Michael’s eyes as she says it, not glancing away for a moment. She hopes that what she remembers of her brother’s personality is right – that Michael really is as unchanging as his marble façade suggests. She wouldn’t dare bring Lucifer back into this and draw his attention onto her siblings again – can he see that in her eyes? Or is he blinded, knowing that in her shoes, he would sacrifice anything to reorder the world as he believed it should be?

She feels as though she stands at the balancing point of something vast and incompressible, tipping the weight of two monsters against one another – like Scylla and Charybdis of the old stories, each with gaping jaws which wait if she errs too close.

Then Michael’s eyes close, and he is her brother again – the one who sat her on his knee and taught her to play piano, who sat her on his shoulders and walked her to school, and who sits in front of her now and sighs, looking weary beyond his years.

“Will you permit me a day to put together the forms?” he snaps. “Or would you prefer it in _cash_?”

“Thank you.”

Anna glances at Gabriel, knowing now is the time to make their retreat. She turns.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Michael?” A familiar voice asks. “I presume matters have been resolved.”

“Apparently.”

The door opens, and Anna has prepared herself for the sight of Raphael. What she does not expect is Castiel to stumble into the room, pushed forward by his sister’s hand on his shoulder.

Raphael catches sight of Anna, and her eyes narrow.

“I appear to be interrupting,” she says, voice dripping in contempt. “I didn’t realise you had any other guests. Although I was wondering why Castiel seemed to be eavesdropping.”

Anna turns slowly back to Michael. The glint has returned to his eyes.

“Ah,” he says. “So that’s how you knew.”

Anna’s eyes flicker from Castiel to Gabriel and back again. There has to be something that one of them can do. But she has used up all of her clever ideas, and neither of the others moves to act.

“Castiel, you have disobeyed my direct orders.” Michael’s smile shows his teeth. “You are to leave this house. Immediately.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo makes a call.

Jo snatches out her phone, opens the address book, scrolls past the place where Anna’s name should be, looking for someone she can talk to.

Bobby will ask why she didn’t just get the girl’s phone number in the first place. Dean’s at work and he’ll only tell her Anna’s probably taken a long weekend. Mom will ask why she’s not in class and she’ll think Jo is overreacting, that this isn’t big enough to risk her education and –

Dammit, she couldn’t even begin to explain. Who’s going to listen to her when she can’t even let herself say –

She punches the name.

“Sam?” she asks as soon as it picks up.

“Jo?” Not Sam. Jess. “He’s at the library, he must have forgotten his phone. Do you want me to tell him to call you when he gets back?”

“No, it’s fine, I – it’s fine, he doesn’t –”

“Jo? What’s wrong?”

“It’s fine,” she repeats, the syllables tipping out as meaningless platitudes. “I’m fine, I –”

“Sit down,” Jess tells her.

A laugh crackles in Jo’s throat. “I’m in the middle of the sidewalk.”

“Sit on the curb,” Jess says. “Take the weight off your feet, and breathe.”

Jo folds her legs against the edge of the road, drawing in heady lungfuls of air. Her heart is still pounding from the run over here, blood pulsing through her ears faster than she can count it. The rush of it is deafening, like the earth below her rattling on its axis. She wonders if Jess can hear it down the phone line.

“Where are you?” Jess asks, coaxing. “Are you at class?”

“No, I’m –” Breathe. “I’m at a friend’s house.”

“Can you go inside?”

“No,” Jo snaps. “No-one’s here, I came here looking for them and they’re –”

“Alright,” Jess continues, cutting her off, forcing Jo to breathe again. “Are you close enough to get home without help?”

“...Yes.” Jo hates that moment of hesitation. Yesterday she did it without thinking; today the distance seems impossible. Her head is spinning so hard that she barely knows east from west, but: “Yeah, I’ve done it before.”

“Do you want to go home?” Jess asks.

Jo’s stomach twists. “No.”

“Okay, we can talk here.”

Jo pauses, her manners catching up with her.

“No,” she says. “You don’t have to, you must have been in the middle of something...”

“My Amazon order can wait,” Jess reassures her. “Just tell me what happened. From the start.”

Jo isn’t sure she knows where this started any more. Was it Saturday night at the party, or on Valentines Day, or months ago when she first ducked into Heavenly out of the rain? Everything led into each other, all of the dumb luck and bad decisions. It’s so fragile that perhaps it never should have existed at all – but somehow it feels inevitable that she would wind up here, collapsed against the concrete heaving on each breath as though the air is shredding her lungs.

“I have this... friend,” she says, carefully. “Good friend. We argue sometimes, but we always get it together, sooner or later. We were hanging out and something went wrong, Rufus says she left in a hurry –”

 Jo winces at the slip, but it’s too late to take it back now.

“I figured she was sick –” she hadn’t, not really, she’d known something was wrong – “but today she wasn’t at work. The house is empty, the car is missing. I’m sure she’s fine, anything could have happened –”

Anything is an echoing chasm of possibility, and the word sparks a memory – Michael. What if Michael found Anna, or Lucifer, or Bela? Anna could be in real trouble right now, and Jo is just sitting here –

“Where else are you supposed to be?” Jo didn’t realise she’d said that out loud. “If your friend is in trouble, she knows where you are. She’s more than capable of asking for help if she needs it.”

Jo’s breath stills. Right. If Anna wanted her around, she would ask.

“And she hasn’t abandoned you, either,” Jess continues as if she’s read Jo’s mind. “It’s probably something personal that she needs little space for. I mean, you don’t tell _her_ everything, do you?”

She sucks in air like a hiss of pain. She doesn’t. Perhaps if she did, she wouldn’t be in this mess.

Jess hums at the phone, and Jo can picture her there, caught in the morning sunlight, winding a strand of her golden hair around one finger as she mulls the situation over. It’s like a promise, something solid and real a thousand miles away. The world is still turning.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jess tells her. “I guess it always stings a little, feeling like you’ve lost someone you love.”

Jo nearly bites the tip of her tongue off.

“But I’m sure this isn’t your fault. She’s just busy with something else.”

“I wish –” Jo almost chokes on the word. “That I knew. That she would tell me, if she was leaving.”

“Have you ever asked her to?”

“Never thought of it.” Not in so many words.

“Perhaps you should.” Jess sighs. “I’m sorry. I wish I could say more to help, but I don’t know what’s going on with your friend.”

“You helped,” Jo tells her. “A lot. Thanks. Bye.”

She hangs up before Jess has a chance to respond. The phone drops.

Jo holds onto the sidewalk with both hands, trying to remember how to breathe.

 

Jo is sat at the table in the kitchen when she hears the front door open. She glances at the clock – it’s lunchtime. She isn’t hungry.

She hears footsteps pause in the doorway behind her, and braces herself for the inevitable question, the anger or disappointment.

But her mom doesn’t say anything – she just walks into the room and starts making herself a sandwich.

The tick of the clock echoes in Jo’s ears.

“Mom,” she says, aiming for casual, but her voice is scratchy and raw, every second of nervous waiting etched into the sound. She swallows, hard, and her mother turns around, meeting Jo’s eyes with an even gaze.

“What would you say if I thought I was in love with a girl?”

Time stills. The words hang in the air between them. Ellen’s eyes widen slightly, and Jo watches the surprise cross her face. She cannot bear to look away.

“Oh, honey...”

There’s a tenderness in her mother’s voice which tears into Jo. The moment breaks, and she drops her eyes, anticipation a sour sting in her mouth. It’s too late to take back the words – it’s out now, and every bad end which has been haunting her thoughts for weeks is free to become real.

A hand brushes against her cheek, lifting her chin until she’s meeting her mom’s eyes again.

“Hey, now,” Ellen says. “I know I didn’t raise you to feel shame about loving someone.”

She smiles, soft and warm and the same as it always has been. Then Jo’s arms are around her, as she clings with all the strength she has to her mother’s chest.

“My beautiful girl,” Ellen mutters, stroking her daughter’s hair. “I thought I had a few years yet before you’d start using that word.”

Jo laughs into her shoulder. “When did I ever do what you expected?”

Ellen chuckles. “Oh, I don’t know. I always knew you’d grow up too fast.”

Jo releases her, and she takes the seat beside her daughter.

“Now,” she says. “Do I get to hear about this girl?”

“I –” Jo bites her tongue. “We’re not together. I mean... I don’t know if we will be.”

Ellen shakes her head. “Well, you know I think she’s a fool if she says no. You’re the best luck she’s ever going to get in this life.”

“Mom!” Jo rolls her eyes.

“Oh, hush,” her mom replies. “I’ve got a right to think you’re too good for anyone who comes calling. Do I at least get a name?”

Jo bites her lip, and smiles a little. “I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Well then.” Ellen raises an eyebrow. “If she knows what’s good for her, I’m sure you’ll be telling me soon enough.”

The reminder twists in Jo’s guts, and she winces. “I don’t know that she’ll get the chance. Mom, she left town, and I don’t know what happened to her...”

“You got a reason to think it was something bad?”

Jo shakes her head. “But I can’t think of what it could be that’s good.”

“Now who’s jinxing it?”

Jo tries to force a smile, but she knows it’s not ringing true.

“It’s only a couple of days since I last heard from her,” she says. “It’s probably nothing. But...” She wraps her arms across her stomach. “I hate feeling so scared all the time.”

It burns like acid to admit it, her voice small and weak. She would do anything to fight that feeling, but what can she do? She’s useless.

Ellen takes her hand.

“Baby, I wish I could promise you’re never going to get your heart broken. I can’t tell you that this girl of yours is safe, or that she’s going to love you back like you deserve. But I do know that you’re going to do what you think is right, and you will do your best by her, whatever you think that is. And however that turns out, you know I’m going to support you.”

“I know.”

Jo squeezes her mom’s hand, and for the first time since Anna disappeared, everything seems bearable. There’s nothing anyone can do right now – but when Jo has her chance, she’ll take it.

No more wasting time.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna and Gabriel return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to IRL commitments, I am changing the update day to Thursdays.

On Monday, they stop by the house to collect Castiel’s belongings.

While Gabriel waits in the car, organising flights over the phone, Anna makes her way cautiously up the stairs with her brother. Castiel had joined them at the hotel the night before, sharing a room with Gabriel. He’s remained quiet – so much more quiet than Anna remembers him as – and Anna can only guess at how he might feel.

He is entitled to anger.

They pack up the room as quickly as they can. There isn’t much – he has an apartment near the university with most of his possessions. He was only home for a visit. Spring break. There’s half a suitcase of Russian literature textbooks at the end of his bed.

On a few occasions, their other siblings look in. Anna turns around to see Uriel – taller than she is now – stood in the doorway. When he catches her eye, he scowls and walks away.

The twins walk in together. Hester has started to grow her hair out, so they look more alike than ever, but Anna knows it’s Rachel who hands Castiel his toothbrush with a few regretful words. Hester glares at Anna as though she’s wishing for a sharp implement, blame written in every line of her face – but it’s Rachel who says it out loud. “This is your fault. Look after him.”

The only one of them who stays more than a couple of minutes is Balthazar. He and Castiel exchange a long conversation in murmurs, but when the time comes for goodbyes, he turns to Anna.

“Keep an eye on Cassie, would you?” he says with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll be along soon enough. Shall we say, after my birthday?”

“I expect you to call me before then,” Castiel reminds him.

Balthazar turns back to him. “Well, then. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”

The two of them embrace in the middle of the empty room, and Balthazar slips back into the familiar labyrinth of hallways. Anna and Castiel make their way down the grand staircase for the last time.

Anna is about three steps from the door when she senses someone behind her. She turns sharply, lifting a hand to stop the arm reaching for hers.

Michael pulls out of her grip with a sneer.

“Your inheritance,” he says, thrusting a wedge of papers into her hands. She had all but forgotten about them, and for a moment she wants to throw it all back in his face, consequences be damned.

She takes the papers and smiles.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

Then she walks out of his house, and takes her little brother with her.

 

When they get into the back of the car, Gabriel catches Anna’s eye in the rear view mirror.

“You know, kiddo,” he says. “You don’t have to come with us. If you want to strike out on your own, head back to college – we’re not going to stop you.”

Castiel’s eyes widen, and after a moment, he shakes his head.

“I will have to return soon enough,” he says. “But in the time I have, I would rather be here.”

He glances across at Anna, and his expression is as close to a smile as she’s seen it in years.

“With my family.”

 

Their flight gets in late, and they struggle to keep their eyes open for long enough to make up Castiel’s bed on the sofa before collapsing.

Anna is exhausted. For once, she remains asleep until the lazy hour of eight thirty, although she’s still cursing her inner clock as she shuffles down the hallway past the snores which fill Gabe’s room.

She tries to keep the noise down in the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee. It’s not come to the boil yet when she turns around and starts. Castiel is already awake, and seated at the table behind her, scowling at it as though it’s personally responsible for the sun’s rise.

He always did hate waking up for school.

“Would you like a cup?” she offers. He nods wearily, and she decides to wait until they’ve both had some caffeine before speaking again.

“I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t,” he says. “I’ve been forced to acclimatise myself to nine o’clock lectures. The habit has proved difficult to break.”

“I’ve noticed the same,” she tells him. “I would normally be working by now. But given the weekend we’ve had, I suppose we’ll have to stay closed another day.”

Two business days lost. She’s already reckoning up the missed earnings when the memory of the papers lying unopened in her bag upstairs brings her to a sudden halt. She has no idea of the amount that has come to her, but she’s sure that a Monday morning’s tips are nothing in comparison.

For a few moments, Anna is very glad that she’s already sitting down.

Then Castiel yawns. “Is there a shower I could use?”

“Upstairs, second on the left,” she says, and oh. That’s a whole different strangeness, and one that’s far easier to swallow.

No, she doesn’t think she’ll be regretting these last few days after all.

 

 It’s a strange day, all three of them out of place as they try to readjust. Anna and Gabriel are catching up on lost rest as well as lost time, and it’s late afternoon before Anna remembers they’re lacking a special for the next morning.

“Hey,” she says to Castiel. “Do you want to try baking something?”

“What would you suggest?”

She seats herself in front of the computer. “Give me five minutes. I’ve been meaning to find a new recipe for chocolate cake.”

 

The mix has just gone in the oven when the doorbell rings. Anna answers it, and gets knocked back a step as Jo throws her arms around her.

“What the hell, Anna?” she demands, but she’s laughing in Anna’s ear as she says it. “You scared me shitless.”

“I was only gone for two days,” Anna says.

“Yeah, but you said you’d be back in five minutes.” Jo releases her and cuffs her on the arm. “Where have you been?”

Anna blinks. “Sorry, I forgot all about that. I got... called away.”

She knows she’s being cagey, but she doesn’t know where to begin explaining the last few days. She’s barely processed them herself.

Jo lets it pass. “You’ll have to tell me that story sometime.”

“I will,” Anna promises. “So, I take it I was missed?”

“Well,” Jo breathes. “Maybe a bit.”

There’s a teasing edge to her voice which makes Anna suddenly aware of how little space there is in this hallway. They’re stood almost nose to nose, but Jo’s sly smile is somehow more intimate than hugging her had been.

There’s a familiar tug in Anna’s stomach, one she has always felt in Jo’s presence – as though the world is tilting under her, and she’s on the verge of losing her balance. It used to terrify her, that inexorable slide towards something unseen, but she’s not sure she has ever wanted it to stop.

She’s running out of reasons not to let herself fall.

“But now that you’re here, I was wondering –”

“Jo.” Anna interrupts. “Are you seeing anyone?”

Jo cuts off abruptly. She laughs, obviously bemused. “You don’t think I would have mentioned it?”

“Not necessarily,” Anna says. “I saw you holding hands with a guy, back in January...”

Jo looks blank for a few seconds before realisation dawns.

“Adam?” She sounds stunned that Anna remembers. “Yeah, I guess we went out. Once. Given how well _that_ went, it didn’t seem like a good idea to try again.”

Anna’s worries start to melt away. Anticipation is a warm buzz under her skin, and she is certain that everything is going to work out. A smile spreads across her face.

“But now that you mention it,” Jo continues. “I have had my eye on someone.”

The smile stalls in its tracks.

Anna clearly misread the situation. This gamble hasn’t paid off, and now there’s no way to avoid awkwardness. She straightens up, bracing herself for the inevitable: “Don’t tell me you thought...”

“Actually,” Jo says, with the smile of the oblivious. “I was hoping that today, I might finally get to kiss her.”

She leans closer in to share this secret, the accidental intimacy seeming cruel as Anna waits for Jo to catch onto her mistake, to pull away with a laugh and grant her hopes their final dismissal. But Jo’s smile only grows. Doesn’t she understand how this hurts, the way she gazes up at Anna while she’s talking about kissing some other girl –

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Anna feels the tension melt out of her spine. She melts into Jo’s space, letting herself be drawn forward until she feel’s Jo’s breath warm on her cheek. Anna places a hand on the curve of Jo’s waist, and she doesn’t flinch away, she only bites her lip in a way that would be distracting if it wasn’t so brilliantly relevant to the matter at hand.

 “So,” Jo murmurs. “What do you think of my chances?”

“Of a kiss?” Anna asks, no longer bothering to hide her smile. “Well. I think it’s about time.”

Then their lips meet, and the world drops away.

Anna is floating through space, thrown into an strange new galaxy she has only ever seen from afar. There are constellations in Jo’s touch, dancing geometries of brilliant light which fill Anna’s mind. She knows that she will never understand a thousandth part of it, but she wants to spend a lifetime trying.

The press of their mouths is gentle, almost hesitant. As if there were some wrong way to rewrite the universe.

They move apart by millimetres, watching each other. Anna’s feet are on the ground again: she’s home and safe with the smell of chocolate cake in the air, she’s at Heavenly watching a blonde stranger shake raindrops from her hair, she’s at the Roadhouse in her best friend’s arms and it feels as though they have never stopped dancing. She’s with Jo, two hearts pounding, two breaths mixing, two mouths curling into smiles.

“We should do this again sometime,” Anna says.

Jo’s laughter bubbles against her chest, and she can’t help but echo it.

“Yeah,” Jo says. “How about always?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Anna is contemplating a second kiss when Jo’s eyes suddenly flick to something over her shoulder, growing wide with surprise. Anna half-turns, reluctant to release Jo so quickly.

Castiel is stood in the kitchen doorway, a perfectly smooth chocolate sponge held in oven-gloved hands. He seems utterly indifferent to the sight of his sister with her arm around another girl’s waist.

“I wasn’t sure where to put this,” he says.

“Anywhere on the counter, it needs to cool in the tin.”

At her words, he turns back to the kitchen, leaving Jo looking bewildered. Anna threads their fingers together, and leads her after him.

“I should make introductions,” she explains. “Jo, this is my brother Castiel.”

Jo raises an eyebrow at the name. “Nice to meet you. Though I can’t say I was expecting to.”

Castiel nods. “My arrival here was hardly anticipated.”

That makes Jo chuckle, a warm and promising sound. It sounds like the start of something.

Anna looks at the woman stood beside her, and she realises that they are both beaming with happiness.

“Castiel,” she says. “This is Jo Harvelle.

“My girlfriend.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo and Anna spend the afternoon together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed the rating of this fic has changed.
> 
> This chapter contains sexually explicit content. If you're fine with that, read ahead. If you would rather skip it, but continue with the story, you can find all plot-relevant information by reading the first three paragraphs, then jumping to the sentence beginning "When Jo opens her eyes".

The first weekend after finals, Jo is ready to celebrate her freedom.

Summer has finally arrived. Class is over, and weeks of studying have paid off with the best grades she’s managed yet. Jo has already put her name down for the staff of the school paper next year, and in her room at home there’s a growing list of colleges which offer journalism scholarships.

But now isn’t the time to worry about all of that. Today, birds are singing, the sun is shining, and Castiel – whose term finished a week ago – is doing his first training shift at Heavenly with Gabriel. Jo and Anna have the house all to themselves, which means they can cuddle on the couch and watch whatever movie they want.

It also means there’s no-one to complain when they get distracted from Star Wars ten minutes in and decide instead to go and make out on Anna’s bed.

Even after months, it’s heady to be able to be with Anna like this. To go from hanging out or joking around to lying in bed next to her gorgeous girlfriend, shirt already half-unbuttoned as Anna teases a line of kisses along her collarbone. Jo brushes her hand up from Anna’s hip and along her spine, until her top rides up over her waist and Anna lets out a huff of laughter against Jo’s shoulder.

“That tickles,” she objects. But when Jo’s fingers find the clasp of her bra, she rolls her shoulders back and lifts her mouth to meet Jo’s again, drinking in the taste of her lips. Jo’s hand finds Anna’s breast, and Anna retaliates by slipping her fingers into Jo’s back pocket, grasping her ass so that Jo’s hips rock back of their own accord.

This is close to the point they have always stopped before, the unwritten line they do not cross – at least, not until Jo is safely alone, back in her own bedroom. At times, it’s been a challenge to her self-control, but it felt right to pace themselves. Neither of them has wanted to push their new relationship too fast.

Only, today seems like a day to challenge boundaries.

“You know,” she says between kisses, breathless. “We could keep going.”

Anna chuckles again. “I wasn’t planning on stopping any time soon.”

“No, I mean...” She hesitates, trying not to be distracted by the pressure of Anna’s nipple hardening under her palm. “We could try...”

She grasps for words, but while the Internet has been very forthcoming in providing ideas – very entertaining ideas – the language of what she wants is still unfamiliar on her tongue. It’s difficult to figure out protocol when all Jo knows for sure is that she would very much like Anna’s jeans to no longer be an issue.

“...something new.”

“Jo,” Anna says seriously. “Are you asking if I want to have sex with you?”

No sentence should be allowed to be so hot and so terrifying at the same time.

She moves her hand onto Jo’s hip, and Jo reluctantly retreats hers to Anna’s waist. This isn’t a conversation they should be having with distractions.

“Yeah,” Jo answers. “I wanted you to know that it’s an option. If you want it to be.”

Anna smiles a little. “I think I’d like that.”

Jo barely has time to register what she’s said before they’re kissing again. Only kissing. She worries for a moment or two that she’s supposed to make some kind of first move, but then Anna sucks on her lip a little and she stops worrying about anything other than the slide of their tongues against one another and the anticipation building deep in her belly.

They move slowly, every touch feeling more deliberate now that they know this is leading somewhere. Jo feels strangely coy, given the circumstances, and she teases at the hem of Anna’s top for a while before sliding her hand under again. She rubs a thumb over Anna’s nipple, making her gasp and arch her back, which would normally be Jo’s warning to stop. She presses a kiss into the curve of Anna’s neck, and does it again.

Then Anna slips her hand inside Jo’s bra, and Jo is the one gasping.

Everything moves faster after that. Anna’s other hand is fumbling at the buttons on Jo’s shirt, but Jo is more interested in the way their hips are flush against each other. She tangles one leg in between Anna’s knees and presses up, and if the way Anna’s hips roll into hers is anything to go by, that was a good idea.

Anna’s thigh presses against the zipper of her jeans, and Jo has to bite back a moan. Yep, this was a great idea. Also, Anna’s bra needs to be out of the way _yesterday_.

She redoubles her efforts to pull Anna’s top over her head, which would be a lot easier if Anna wasn’t simultaneously tugging Jo’s shirt down over her shoulders and biting at the exposed skin, which is not at all fair. Jo is definitely paying her back for that, as soon as she gets all this fabric out the way. She’s seriously considering tearing it off of her when Anna says: “Would you hold still?”

This clearly isn’t working.

“Let go for two seconds,” Jo says reluctantly, wiggling back the minimum distance required to disentangle herself from her shirt and bra without elbowing Anna in the nose. She tosses them blindly behind her and looks back at Anna –

Oh. Anna did the same. That makes sense.

Jo knows she’s staring, but Anna is gazing right back at her with unconcealed desire, and then they’re pressing against one another again, kissing each other breathless while skin pushes against skin, warm and soft and desperate under covetous hands.

Touching isn’t enough for Jo. She kisses her way down Anna’s throat and across her chest, while Anna’s fingers tangle in her hair and trace circles on her spine. Jo marvels at the textures under her tongue, silky skin and touch-hardened flesh, flushing red where she licks and sucks against the heaves of Anna’s breath. She tries letting her teeth graze against one raised nipple, but Anna jerks away with a hiss of breath, so Jo satisfies her curiosity with lips and tongue.

Then Anna’s hands drop to Jo’s ass and _pull_ , lifting Jo’s head and crushing their hips together and _right_. There’s that too.

Heat flashes across Jo’s body until her toes curl, and then Anna sucks one nipple into her mouth and _bites_ and Jo groans out loud. She’s fairly sure she could get off like this: grinding down on Anna’s thigh through layers of fabric, hands roaming across hips and ass and tits and neck, and Anna smirking up at her like the promise of more.

But that doesn’t mean she’s complaining when she feels Anna’s hand tugging at her zipper. That seems like a great idea too.

Or it would be, if it didn’t make years of lectures ring in her ears.

“Um,” Jo gasps as her button pops open. “Is this the point where we should be getting something latex?”

Anna goes still. “I don’t have anything. I wasn’t expecting to need it today.”

Jo bites back a completely different kind of groan.

“But... last time I got tested I was clear,” she continues. “And there’s no reason that shouldn’t still be the case.”

“Me too.” Ellen and Dean had both instilled the importance of that on her, the latter in graphic detail. “So, do you want to keep going?”

She really hopes Anna doesn’t want to stop, but she doesn’t have anything but her word to back up her claim, and that’s a lot of trust to ask.

“Of course I do,” Anna says quickly. “I mean, if you want to...”

“Hell yes.” Jo’s voice is fervent as a prayer.

“Good,” Anna says with a smile. Then she shoves her hand down the front of Jo’s pants.

 Jo’s higher brain functions short circuit for a moment, but after that initial contact Anna’s hand pulls back. Jo rocks her hips forwards, blindly seeking more pressure, anything more than the light, teasing strokes across the damp cotton of her underwear.

Her hands fumble with Anna’s belt, made clumsy by distraction, but before she manages to get it open Anna shifts onto her hands and knees, out of Jo’s reach. She drags Jo’s jeans over her thighs and all the way off, leaving Jo in nothing but her briefs.

When Anna moves towards her again, Jo scrambles upright.

“Pants off first,” she insists, and Anna laughs.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She finally tugs off her jeans, and Jo can’t help but stare. Anna is sat only a couple of feet away from her, bright red hair spilling over the pale curves of her breasts, naked but for a pair of blue underpants with a noticeable dark stain in the front.

Jo wants her so bad she’s dizzy from it.

But that doesn’t quiet the butterflies in her stomach. This is completely different from anything she’s done before, and she has no idea what she’s doing. It’s daunting to think how many ways this could go wrong.

She runs her fingers along her own hips, trying to build up the nerve to remove the last scrap of fabric covering herself.

“So,” Anna says, eyeing her with intent to devour. “How do you want to do this?”

Jo scrambles for an answer for a couple of seconds, but there’s no point trying to sound confident when she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

“I have no idea,” she admits. “Whatever you want to try.”

Anna smiles and pulls Jo’s hand away from the elastic.

“Well, in that case,” she says, “keep your underwear on, and lie on your back.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jo mutters, throwing in a mock salute for good measure before she drops back against the pillows.

Anna chuckles as she crawls over. “It’s not that I don’t want to see you naked. It’s just that they make this go a little smoother.”

Jo is about to ask what when Anna, her legs straddling Jo’s thigh, grinds down against Jo’s hipbone. She arches up at the sudden contact, and finds that without jeans in the way, the pressure is enough to send sparks of pleasure arcing up her spine.

She buries her hands in Anna’s hair and pulls her into a desperate kiss as their hips slot together, finding a steady rhythm. It’s tantalisingly slow, but every movement presses them against one another, skin scraping together from breast to hip, soaked cotton leaving a wet trail along their legs. Jo surges upwards and Anna breaks away, gasping for breath.

Jo runs her hands along Anna’s back, stroking over her ass with one hand while the other moves to cup her breast. She pinches at the nipple once and Anna sucks in a hiss of air; a second time and she buries her head against Jo’s shoulder, panting.

Jo wants more – she wants to watch Anna catch light. She lets her hand trail down Anna’s waist, over the curve of her hips, and pushes it into the gap between their bodies, under the elastic of Anna’s briefs. Her fingertips scrape over Anna’s mound, through soft curls of hair, and onto the slippery smoothness of her lips.

“Jo.” Anna says her name like a plea for mercy.

“It’s alright,” Jo says soothingly. “Come on now.”

She struggles to find the positioning Anna needs from her, but then Anna grinds down and they connect, Jo’s fingers thrusting up against her nub in time with the buck of her hips. Once she’s found it, it’s easy to find the rhythm, the two of them moving together with a steady tempo –

Then Anna’s back arches up, her head thrown back as her thighs clench together around Jo’s. Jo hesitates, transfixed by the sight of her – hair streaming over her shoulders, eyes lidded shut, mouth open in a beatific gasp.

After a few seconds, Anna collapses across Jo’s body, no longer bothering to try and hold her own weight on shaking arms. She turns her face towards Jo’s with eyes still shut, and their kiss is gentle, the hunger between them sated.

Jo’s hand is trapped between them; she manoeuvres it out of Anna’s panties with a snap of the elastic. That makes Anna laugh, and she squirms a little to allow Jo to pull her wrist free.

“That was awesome,” Jo says, and Anna opens her eyes.

“I’ll say,” Anna replies. “So did you...?”

“Nah.” There’s still a buzz of interest between her legs, but Jo is in no particular hurry to act on it. “But I don’t...”

“Would you like to?” Anna cuts her off with a devious smile.

Jo swallows. “I wouldn’t say no.”

Anna grins and kisses her again, this time more passionately, before quickly moving down Jo’s body. Jo can feel her hands still trembling slightly, and she almost wants to repeat – “You don’t have to.” – but Anna knows that. She’s doing it anyway.

Then Anna nips at her breast, and Jo’s worries are swept away by a wave of pleasure. The neglected warmth between her legs flares back into life with a surge of heat.Anna kisses her way down Jo’s belly and runs her fingertips across her hips, and Jo can hardly think for the blood rushing through her head.

It isn’t until Anna presses her lips to the front of her panties that Jo realises what she’s thinking of, and she feels her legs stiffen in anticipation.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asks, pulling away.

“Nothing,” Jo says quickly, cursing her sudden nerves. “It’s just... no-one’s ever gone down on me before.”

Anna draws back further. “I’m sorry, I should have asked. Do you want me to stop?”

“ _No_.”

Jo might be a little apprehensive, but it’s nothing more than the last jitters of fear at the top of a rollercoaster. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to fall.

Anna nods, but she’s slow to move back between Jo’s legs. She caresses Jo’s legs, pressing kisses to the crease of each thigh. Every touch leaves Jo aching for more, and when Anna’s tongue flicks against the wet cotton a second time, Jo’s hips lift to meet her.

Anna moves away again, this time dragging Jo’s panties with her.

For a moment, Jo is alone on the bed, self-conscious and not sure how to position herself. Then Anna is back, sliding her way in between Jo’s legs, and it’s only natural to make room for her there.

She takes her time moving up Jo’s inner thighs, licking at the sensitive skin there, with the occasional bite that makes Jo yelp the first time she does it. Jo feels as though she must be glowing with desire, radiating heat from her core, but Anna’s touch remains light – a single fingertip running over her lips, a cool stream of air blown against the slick.

At the first touch of Anna’s tongue, it’s all Jo can do not to crush her legs together; she shakes with the effort of not urging forward to crush herself against Anna’s mouth. It’s a relief when two firm hands grip her thighs, holding her carefully in place, and Jo has nothing left to do but knot her hands in the sheets and bite back her moans.

Anna licks a long stripe along her, and then pauses.

“Jo,” she says, the word vibrating through her bones. “Tell me what you want.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer before doing it again, her tongue running a broad sweep across every inch of Jo. She tastes everywhere, then moves upwards, tantalisingly close to where Jo wants her.

“Please,” Jo pants out, struggling to find the words. “Up a little... _there_.”

Anna’s tongue massages her clit, and Jo keens with pleasure.

“Yes... Faster... Fuck!” The words are barely coherent as she loses control of herself. Her fingers tug at the blankets, scrambling to hold herself down, and every muscle flexes in time with the inexorable tide of sensation sweeping through her.

With a low groan, Jo explodes. Ecstasy shudders through her, each rush of euphoria overwhelming, and she bites her lip, writhing back against the pillows. Anna continues until Jo’s nerves are burning with sensitivity. It’s only when she’s gasping “Stop, stop!” with every breath that she finally relents, and Jo begins to coast back to earth.

When Jo opens her eyes, Anna is lying beside her. She rolls towards her, so that they are bracketed against one another. Jo can’t keep herself from smiling, and when Anna grins lazily back at her, she laughs with joy, pressing herself forwards until their foreheads rest against one another.

She blinks into Anna’s wide eyes, and sighs.

“Run away with me.”

Anna laughs, and strokes a hand along Jo’s cheek. “What?”

“Let’s go away together,” Jo says hazily. “Let’s go everywhere.”

“Are you asking me to elope?”

“I’m saying we should do that in every motel in the lower 48.” Jo teases. “I can find a car. I’ve got enough saved up for gas money. Why shouldn’t we?”

“Some of us have jobs,” Anna reminds her softly.

“Castiel’s helping out this summer,” Jo counters, the idea seeming better by the minute. “He can cover for you until we get back. Road trip. I bet Gabe will love it.”

“You mean it?” Anna asks.

“Well, he seems like –

“Yes.”

Jo blinks. “Yes?”

“Yes,” Anna repeats. “Let’s run away.”

Jo beams and takes her hand, lacing her fingers through Anna’s.

“Together.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Road Continues...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter is upon us! I hope you've all enjoyed the last ten months as much as I have.
> 
> Farewell, thank you for reading, and Happy Halloween!

On the day of their departure, Anna is one of the last to arrive.

The cafe is crowded with people. On top of the usual summer rush of students and schoolchildren who flock to the coffee shop to while away the humid days in the presence of air conditioning and Gabriel’s cinnamon rolls, the tables are clustered with Anna and Jo’s family and friends, come to bid them farewell.

As Anna hauls her bag in from the parking lot, she spots Castiel stocking shelves behind the counter, his jeans hanging low on his hips. He’s lost a little weight since he began working full-time at Heavenly, although that might have more to do with his new habit of going running in the afternoons after his shift. In this heat, Anna can’t imagine where he finds the energy, but he seems more relaxed since he took up the hobby.

“Eyes off my brother’s ass, Winchester!”

Judging from Gabriel’s shout as she walks through the door, Anna isn’t the only one noticing Castiel’s physique. Dean is lending a hand too, carrying a stack of pastry tins from the storeroom, although he seems to have come to a temporary halt.

“You’re one to talk,” he grumbles as Anna approaches. Then he notices her, and it’s suddenly eyes front.

“What was that about my little brother?” she demands.

Castiel turns, his expression serious. “I apologise if you were in some way offended by ass.”

“I – uh – I’m sure it’s a great ass –” Dean hesitates, then winks in Gabe’s direction. “But there’s only one ass for me.”

“Heroic save, Dean-o.” Gabriel rolls his eyes, and Anna doesn’t quite stifle her laugh. “Back to work, kiddos. I’m not paying you to stand around and look pretty.”

“You’re not paying me,” Dean protests. “I came in here to buy lunch!”

“Okay,” Gabriel grins. “ _You_ can stand around and look pretty. And you –” He turns to Anna. “Take a seat, your lady love isn’t here yet.”

Anna surveys the cafe, and her eyes land on Ruby sipping black coffee alone.

“Meg sends her regards,” she says as Anna sits. “So, are you and Lovebird ready to fly the coop?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” There’s a road atlas in her bag and they’ve got a route planned as far as California. “You know, I know this is your fault.”

Ruby doesn’t even blink. “What’s my fault?”

“Somehow, you made this happen.” Anna purses her lips. “I have no idea how, but you did.”

“How could I do that? Witchcraft?” Ruby chuckles. “Jo hates me. She wouldn’t listen to a word I said.”

Anna shrugs. “However you did it, thanks. It turned out pretty well. Just – don’t do it again?”

“You think I’ll need to?”

They eye each other for a moment, until Anna breaks into a smile. Reluctantly, Ruby follows suit.

“Hey, Anna!” Dean calls across the room. “That was her car going past.”

“And that’s my cue to leave.” Ruby gets to her feet. “Have fun travelling the world. I’ll see you around.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Anna says with a smile, following her out the door.

She reaches the parking lot just as Jo steps out of the vehicle. It’s her first time meeting the car, which has been in Bobby’s shop for a once-over since the day Jo bought it, and Anna is a little surprised to see that it’s painted a deep cherry red.

At the sight of Anna, Jo beams.

“Would you look at her?” she says enthusiastically. “83 Thunderbird with 140 horsepower...”

Jo continues the spiel for nearly a minute without pausing for breath, although the technical specifics are lost on Anna. She never knew Jo had such an interest in cars – but then, growing up around Dean and Bobby, perhaps she was bound to pick up the language.

“- I can’t believe Pastor Jim was willing to sell it to me!” she concludes, then catches Anna’s expression. “You didn’t get any of that, did you?”

“...It’s awesome?”

Jo grins. “ _So_ awesome.”

She pops the trunk, and Anna lays her bag beside Jo’s duffel.

“Are you ready to say goodbye?” she asks.

Jo shrugs. “Guess I’d better be.”

For all her uncertainty, she’s gone the moment they walk through the door, swept away by Bobby wanting to know how the car handled on her way over here, Ellen double-checking something she should have packed.

Anna’s brothers are waiting in front of the counter.

“We’re heading out,” she says, rather pointlessly.

Castiel’s nod is serious. “I regret we have not been able to spend more time together.”

“There’s always next summer,” Anna reassures him. “And I promise I’ll call. Every week.”

She wraps her arms around his chest, which seems to surprise him. Castiel stiffens for a moment before accepting the hug, patting her awkwardly on the back a couple of times until Anna lets go.

“Look after yourself, kid,” Gabe tells her. “Come back with an inappropriate tattoo.”

“What, another one?” she teases.

Her brother laughs, and embraces her. He smells like cinnamon and coffee grounds, and Anna is swept with nostalgia for the room she’s still standing in. Letting go is a beautiful ache.

Then Jo wanders over with her family, and they are engulfed in a flurry of activity. Ellen shakes her hand and tells her to “take care,” and Dean pats her on the back.

“You know, when that old heap breaks down, call me,” he says. “Jo’s too proud to admit –”

“Don’t you go badmouthing her –”

“Hey, Jolene!” Gabriel calls. “One last latte for the road?”

He hands her the paper cup, and Jo grins and takes a sip.

“No wish?” Anna mutters in her ear.

Jo blushes a little.

“Nah,” she says. “I don’t reckon I need it.”

Dean rolls his eyes at them both, and Gabriel says: “Okay, ladies, the world is waiting. Get out of my cafe!”

They call their last goodbyes behind them as they head out onto the street, smiles on their faces.

When they turn reach the car, Jo flips Anna the keys.

“Shotgun!”

“Why?” Anna asks. “It’s your car. Don’t you want to drive?”

“I’ll get my turn soon enough,” Jo says with a shrug.

But as Anna turns the key in the ignition, there’s a clicking noise to her right. She turns, and Jo is grinning at the camera whirring in her hands.

“I couldn’t resist.”

Anna rolls her eyes, but she can’t help but smile at the beautiful woman next to her. This is something she never expected to have. She doesn’t think she will ever stop being grateful, even though she can hardly imagine her life any other way.

The open road stretches out in front of them.

“Buckle up,” Anna says. “We’ve got a long way to go yet.”


End file.
